Jitsukawa Enzaburo as the Jester (Taikomochi) Nisaku, from the series Tales of Valour in Full Bloom (Hankajin yuden)., Ryusai Shigeharu, artist, 1849, Osaka, woodcut, Like the capital city of Edo, the eastern city of Ōsaka grew rapidly during the long 'Pax Tokugawa' between 1603 and 1868. Its commercial classes prospered, so much so that it became known as the ‘city of merchants’. With affluence came leisure, and an appetite for entertainments. The kabuki theatre especially flourished, as did the thriving print industry serving the market for yakusha-e actor prints

---

Size: 4076px × 5854px
Location:
Photo credit: © Penta Springs / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: 1603, 1849, 1868, actor, affluence, appetite, artist, bloom, capital, city, classes, commercial, eastern, edo, entertainments, enzaburo, flourished, full, grew, hankajin, industry, jester, jitsukawa, kabuki, leisure, long, market, merchants, nisaku, osaka, pax, print, prints, prospered, rapidly, ryusai, series, serving, shigeharu, taikomochi, tales, theatre, thriving, tokugawa, valour, woodcut, yakusha-, yuden, Ōsaka