NHK's educational program "Ukiyo-e EDO-LIFE" features ukiyo-e prints linked to the story every week to help viewers enjoy the station's historical drama "UNBOUND (Berabou)" (General TV, Sundays at 8pm and other times) even more deeply. On October 31st, "The World of UNBOUND- Tsutaju, Utamaro and the Beauties of 'Tomimotobushi'" will be broadcast on BS Premium 4K from 6pm and on Educational TV from 11:50pm.
The piece we are introducing this time is "Tomimoto Toyo Hina" by Kitagawa Utamaro, painted around 1793. The duo of Tsutaju and Utamaro repeatedly depicted a beautiful woman in their ukiyo-e prints. This was Tomimoto Toyo Hina, a renowned geisha from the popular Joruri school "Tomimoto-bushi." "Tomimoto Toyo Hina" is one such piece, and its elegant figure is depicted with elaborate expression.
Toyohina was also depicted in "Tosei Sanbei" (Three Beauties of the Present), a series depicting three popular beauties of Edo at the time. Two of the "Three Beauties" were poster girls for teahouses, which were all the rage at the time. In other words, they were amateur town girls. Tsutae had a particular motive behind pairing these two with the geisha Toyohina...
