In red cartouche: Famous places in Bushū and Kanagawa (Bushū Kanagawa meisho) [武州神奈河名昕]
In yellow striped square: Gankirō in Yokohama (Yokohama Gankirō) [横濱巌亀楼] / new spelling 横浜岩亀楼.
The three kanji [岩亀楼] (Gankirō) are also visible on the sign or lantern above the food tray, carried on the head by a man on the left. Gankirō – the largest ‘tea house’ (brothel) for foreigners in the Miyozaki pleasure quarters, similar to those in Yoshiwara, in Edo.
Artist: Utagawa Hiroshige II [二代目 歌川広重] (Japanese, 1826 – 1869) – a son-in-law of Andō Hiroshige.
Signature: Hiroshige ga [廣重画]
Dimensions: Aiban yoko-e uchiwa-e, 223 x 289 mm.
Combined date/censor seal: monkey (saru – 申) and kiwame (極), 1860.
Publisher: Yama-Ta; seal: [板元, 太] – Hanmoto, Ta; Marks 19-044 | U421b: An unknown publisher in Edo, fl. c. 1815-61.
Another Hiroshige II’s print with the same subject and even the same characters, but in 3rd month, 1859: Entrance to the Gankirō Tea House in the Miyozaki District, Yokohama, Bushu (Bushu Yokohama Gankirō) [諸国名所百景 武州横浜岩亀楼].
Utagawa Yoshikazu’s [歌川芳員] depiction of the place in c. 1861 from the inside:
Foreigners Enjoying Themselves in the Gankirō. MET JP3264.
[Thanks to Horst Graebner].
