Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞], a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代 歌川 豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865) – lower part, fan
Artist: Utagawa Sadafusa (歌川貞房) (fl. c. 1825 – 1850) – upper part, with the landscape
Signatures: ōju Kunisada ga (應需國貞画) and Sadafusa ga (貞房画); Sadafusa's signature is at the bottom right edge of the upper part and mostly trimmed off
Censor seal: kiwame (極)
Publisher: Tsuruya Kiemon (鶴屋喜右衛門) (enterprise, c. 1620 – 1898)
Media: Ōban tate-e (大判縦絵), color woodblock print, 364 x 247 mm
Date: No date seal
Series: Scenic views of Edo (Edo shōkei, 江戸勝景)
Title: Akuji (あくぢ)
The print is divided into two sections. The upper register, designed by Utagawa Sadafusa, presents a stylized bird’s-eye view of the hilltop temple complex at
Kan’ei-ji (寛永寺) in Ueno, looking southeast toward Edo Bay. The title
Akuji (あくぢ) refers to an Edo-period place name, written in kana, that designated the slope and surrounding district near the southern approach to Kan’ei-ji. Though the name is no longer in common use,
Akuji (sometimes written as
悪路次) would have been a familiar geographic reference for contemporary viewers.
The lower section, a fan-shaped uchiwa-e designed by Utagawa Kunisada, shows two women seated indoors on green tatami flooring. The woman in the foreground rests her chin on her hands and leans forward over a kotatsu (炬燵, heated table) draped with a red-and-yellow checked cloth. A kiseru (煙管) pipe leans against the kotatsu, and a small tobacco stand (tabako-dai, 煙草台) with a burner and pipe tray is placed nearby. A closed book lies on the floor at her side.
The second woman, seated behind, holds a lacquer tray with small yellow objects—possibly sweets, wax sticks, or slips of paper—whose precise function remains uncertain. Both women wear layered kimono with checked and floral patterns, and their hair is styled in the taka-shimada (高島田) coiffure decorated with ornamental kanzashi (簪).
A folding screen (byōbu, 屏風) painted with a pine and stream landscape partially encloses the setting, while a tall paper lantern with exposed flame rises behind it. A sliding shōji screen (障子) to the left completes the interior architecture.
