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 others) even more. On November 7th, "The World of UNBOUND: Remaining seated even after giving birth! Surprising circumstances of childbirth" will be broadcast on BS Premium 4K from 6pm and on NHK Educational TV from 11:50pm.
This time we will be looking at Suzuki Harunobu's "Wedding Brocade Chaplain's Carriage, Volume 7: First Birth," painted around 1769. In connection with the pregnancy of Tsutaeju's wife, Tei, we will analyze this precious painting, which depicts a unique birth scene from the Edo period, and introduce the surprising circumstances surrounding childbirth.
A birth takes place in a house, watched by the "Toriage Baba" (a modern-day midwife), relatives, and women from the neighborhood. However, there are a number of strange things. The baby is bathing in the bath standing up. Why is the mother sitting in something like a chair, even though she has just given birth? And why is there a "guard" standing next to her...
