shigatsu (The Fourth Month), Toyohara Chikanobu

Artwork Overview

Toyohara Chikanobu, shigatsu (The Fourth Month)
Toyohara Chikanobu, shigatsu (The Fourth Month)
Toyohara Chikanobu
shigatsu (The Fourth Month)
1890, Meiji period (1868–1912)
Toyohara Chikanobu
1838–1912
shigatsu (The Fourth Month), 1890, Meiji period (1868–1912)
Portfolio/Series title: Nenju gyoji (Calendar of Eastern Customs)
Where object was made: Japan
Material/technique: color woodcut
Dimensions:
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 359 x 234 mm
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 14 1/8 x 9 3/16 in
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 359 x 234 mm
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 14 1/8 x 9 3/16 in
Mat Dimensions (Height x Width): 19 x 14 in
Credit line: Museum purchase: Lucy Shaw Schultz Fund
Accession number: 2007.0062.04
Not on display
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Exhibition Label: "Time/Frame," Jun-2008, Robert Fucci, Shuyun Ho, Lauren Kernes, Lara Kuykendall, Ellen C. Raimond, and Stephanie Teasley The theme of “annual customs” in Japanese art depicts rituals, customs, and festivals in different times of a year. Each of these prints describes an important custom of a month. As a part of a larger agenda of modernizing the country, the Meiji government changed the calendar system from lunar to the solar-based Gregorian calendar in 1873. However, when Chikanobu created this set in 1890, the depicted customs still followed the lunar system. For example, the Gion festival is depicted in the sixth month instead of July, as it is held today. It was not until after 1945 that Japan completed converting the dates for traditional customs according to the solar calendar. This lengthy transition period of the two systems exemplifies the notion that calendars are not just systems of dates, but embody cultural and social values. To read the prints in order, start at the top right corner and proceed top to bottom from right to left.