Port of Nagasaki

This is an example of nagasaki-e, the prints made in Nagasaki area. Ukiyo-e were mostly produced in Edo (present Tokyo) and Kamigata (present Kyoto-Osaka area), but Nagasaki also had prints unique to this area. Nagasaki was one of the few ports that were open to foreign countries in the Edo period. Since people in Nagasaki had chance to know about foreigners and their customs (especially Dutch and Chinese), the motif of nagasaki-e tended to be exotic. Nagasaki-e were popular as souvenirs.