Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III). Cherry Blossoms and Moon (Genji-e) / Fan print, 1849-50.

Artist: Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III) (歌川国貞) (1786–1865)
Signed: 豊国画 (Toyokuni ga) in a red toshidama cartouche
Publisher: Iseya Sōemon (伊勢屋惣右衛門), Marks 19-047 | 156d, seal Hanmoto, Ue (板元, 上)
Censor Seals: Double nanushi (Watanabe & Kunigasa)
Date: Kaei 2-3 (1849–1850), based on censor seals.
Media: Uchiwa-e (fan print), colour woodblock print, 230 × 297 mm
Genre: Genji-e (源氏絵)

Description: Moonlit outdoor scene beneath blossoming cherry trees. At left, Tasogare (黄昏) stands in three-quarter view, lifting a hairpin (kanzashi, 簪) toward her coiffure. She wears a multi-layered kimono decorated with pinwheel-like floral motifs and geometric patterns in red, blue, and yellow, secured with an obi. At right, Ashikaga Mitsuuji (足利光氏) is shown seated, turning toward Tasogare. He wears a purple haori (羽織) adorned with gentian (rindō, 竜胆) crests and a red-and-white obi bearing Genji-mon patterns. A full moon rises in the night sky as cherry blossoms and falling petals frame the figures, emphasizing the nocturnal setting. The imagery is based on Chapter 10 of Nise Murasaki inaka Genji (偐紫田舎源氏), a late-Edo gōkan (合巻) by Ryūtei Tanehiko (1783–1842).

The present fan bears no series title inscription. It may therefore have been issued as a standalone design or as part of an unnamed thematic set. The imagery nevertheless incorporates clear serial markers—blooming cherry blossoms and a full moon—suggesting alignment with common Edo-period thematic groupings, such as the seasons (spring–summer–autumn–winter) or poetic triads (e.g., snow–moon–flowers), in which this design would correspond to spring or moon.

Kunisada derived this fan (uchiwa) design from his own earlier compositions, first issued as illustrations to Nise Murasaki inaka Genji, Chapter 10, p. 1/2 (1833). The subject was subsequently reworked as a horizontal ōban print in 1850 (Sono sugata yukari no utsushi-e, no. 57) and again as an ōban diptych in 1858 (Genji goshiyojo, no. 113). Closely related fan-print versions of the same subject include Yūgao (夕顔, The Twilight Beauty) from the series Yasa sugata yukari no [….]. In the original literary source, Yūgao is Chapter 4 of The Tale of Genji.

1) 57a. NMIG, Chap. 10, p. 1/2, 1833.

2) 57. Utagawa Kunisada. "Eight" (Hachi), from the series His Figure: Related Copies of Other Pictures (Sono sugata yukari no utsushi-e), 1850; horizontal ōban; Publisher: Izumiya Ichibei.

3) 113. Utagawa Kunisada. "Chapter Number 10" (Dai ju no maki) "Under the Cherry Blossoms" (Hana no en), from the series Lasting Impressions of a Late Genji Collection (Genji gosh yojo) 1/1858; oban diptych; Publisher: Sakanaya Eikichi; Block-cutter: Yokogawa Takejiro

4) Utagawa Kunisada. "The Twilight Beauty" (Yugao), from the series Graceful Figures from (...] (Yasa sugata yukari no [...]); Publisher: Sanoya Kihei, 1l/1852; uchiwa-e.

Reference:
Marks, Andreas. Genji’s World in Japanese Woodblock Prints. — Leiden: Hotei Publishing, 2012, pp. 117, 139, and 218.