Tokiuta of the Chojiya

The two lovely girls of this yellow-ground print are attendants to a courtesan of the Chōjiya brothel. Tokiuta, on the right, is a shinzō, or apprentice courtesan; her companion is a younger, unnamed kamuro attendant. Seated indoors, they smile happily as they read “yellow-cover books” (kibyōshi), a type of light fiction popular in the late 1700s. Like modern comic books, the yellow-cover books were plentifully illustrated (see the open book in Tokiuta’s lap), and full of witty commentary on contemporary life. This charming scene is part of a set in which Eishi playfully compares seven shinzō of his day to the “Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove,” scholarly figures from ancient Chinese lore noted for their literary and intellectual attainments. Underlining the parody are the girl’s genteel activities — reading, writing, and playing music — and folding screens painted with bamboo, set up behind the figures (the Chinese sages are usually shown standing or sitting within an actual grove).
Tokiuta appears to be dressed for New Year’s: she wears pine and plum ornaments in her hair, and her robe is decorated with snow-covered pine branches and what appear to be auspicious plaques. As in other prints from the series, the girls wear special decorated hair combs, here with a crane-shaped roundel, repeated on Tokiuta’s robe.