Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III) and Utagawa Hiroshige II. Kasumigaseki, from the series Thirty-six Views of the Eastern Capital (Tōto sanjūrokkei) / Fan print, 1864.

Woodblock print for a rigid fan (uchiwa-e), 220 x 278 mm.

Figure. A young woman — identifiable as unmarried by the absence of blackened teeth (お歯黒, ohaguro) — is depicted in three-quarter view, turned to the left. She holds an open letter (文, fumi) in her left hand and plays the koto (琴) with her right, the fingers fitted with metal plectra (爪, tsume). Her shimada (島田) hairstyle is adorned with multiple flower hairpins (花簪, hana-kanzashi) — blue hydrangea and yellow peony clusters — a tortoiseshell comb (べっ甲櫛, bekko kushi), and red and yellow ribbon bows. The multilayered kimono collar shows blue, yellow, and red layers decorated with a geometric key-fret pattern (紗綾形, sayagata). The outer robe is deep indigo-blue, densely printed with chrysanthemums, peonies, cherry blossoms, and maple leaves, with undulating yellow and red bands across the ground.

Background. An evening landscape of Kasumigaseki: rooftops with small figures at street level, pines in the middle distance, and an open vista beneath a darkening graduated sky with stylised clouds.

Cartouches and seals. Upper right: red cartouche with series title 東都三十六景 (Tōto sanjūrokkei); adjacent yellow cartouche with sheet title 霞ケせき in kanji and hentaigana. Centre right: partially visible publisher's seal. Lower left: combined date/censor seal (子/極, ne/kiwame). Kunisada's signature in a red toshidama (年玉) seal: 喜翁豊國画 (ki-ō Toyokuni ga); adjacent pink cartouche: 廣重画 (Hiroshige ga). Yellow block carver's seal: 松嶋彫政 (Matsushima hori Masu).