Castle with Water Wheel, Boatmen

Although the site depicted on this fukusa is unclear, capturing views of historical imperial capitals was a popular theme in the Edo and Meiji periods. The curved castle wall depicted in this scene resembles the Zagunis Castle Wall at Portland Japanese Garden. Couching, a technique visible in this fukusa, involved laying down thicker threads, often wrapped with gold or silver leaf, that were too bulky to be directly sewn into the silk. Instead, finer threads were used to hold the metallic threads in place.