Author: Tomioka Eisen (富岡永洗).
Subject: Autumn's color (aki no iro, 秋の色).
Genre: kuchi-e (口絵).
Size: Aiban (間判).
Publisher: Hakubunkan (博分館).
Period: c. 1902.
Trimmed: yes
Backed: no
Code: TOE01001
Condition: good color, saturation and impression. Light soiling on the right side. Any remarkable
stain, wrinkles or crease. No fixing. The print has been slightly trimmed.
A Kuchie frontispiece from the Bungei club (bungei kurabu, 文芸倶楽部) magazine.
A woman, probably the owner of a brothel (okamisan, 御上さん) is handing some money out to an old man in
order to buy his daughter and have the girl working for her.
According to the tale this print has been based on the old man is an alcoholic who is trying to sell
his daugther for support his bad habit.
In Edo Japan this phenomenon was pretty common for those indigent family who could not afford to
feed and rise their daughters, which were often sold to entertainment and brothel district (yūkaku,
遊郭) activities owner.