People of Various Trades / Left screen

Paintings of “People of Various Trades”, in which people of various occupations are illustrated, were originally created in the form of Uta-awase-e, as typified by “Touhoku'in Poetry Contest among Persons of Various Occupations” from the late Kamakura period in the collection of Tokyo National Museum (Important Cultural Property), an illustrated journal of an imaginary poetry competition. Those paintings came to be created as genre paintings toward the end of the Muromachi period, depicting in detail the craftspeople at work, with a view into the stores and workshops.
Most panels have two occupations painted on them, adding up to 22 occupations in total. Judging from the clothing and the hairstyles, they seem to depict people’s life in the late seventeenth century.
Left screen (from right to left): ink brush maker and prayer-beads maker, straw-mat weaver, monkey charmer and tabi-sock maker, wood-bucket maker and candle maker, basket maker and knife sharpener, cord weaver