Fabric shops in the Odemmouth quarter by Utagawa Hiroshige

Fabric shops in the Odemmouth quarter by Utagawa Hiroshige

The Quarter of Odemmate was the first road station on the Osjukaido road. In 1594, after the construction of the bridge of Senzujoshi, the need for Odemmata fell away. Here there were wholesale shops of fabrics, mainly silk, trade began to develop. In 1738, the store opened a large trading firm Aaimaru, based in Kyoto. The company’s trademarks are depicted in Hiroshige on the curtains-noren on the left.

A procession is marching along the street of the quarter, headed by a master of the torus. They return from the ceremony of dze-tosiki, which was held after the installation of the skate of the building. On the master a ceremonial cape of chaori with a personal coat of arms, on his head a ceremonial cap of eboshi. In his hands is a ritual pole, on top of which there are paper gohei and three fastened fans, in the center of this design there is a round mirror, under which a female comb, long strips of fabric of five colors, a chignon.

In ancient times, when laying a building, a girl was sacrificed, a comb and a chignon became a symbolic substitute for steel. Engraving is among the few in the series depicting the urban landscape. In subsequent print options, the green foreground background disappears, the character’s kimono becomes black on the right. The blue color of the norean curtains on the left also changes to black. The color of the cartouche acquires complex transitions from red to dark brown.

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