Edo Pd. Pleasure District Screen, Miyagawa (Attr.)

Attributed to Miyagawa Choshun (Japanese, 1682-1752). "Pleasure District", two panel folding screen with ink and color on paper, apparently unsigned. Panoramic painting depicting a view from outside into a Japanese pleasure district structure with many figures, possibly Yoshiwara in modern day Tokyo, from left a vibrantly painted green tree set before a with two female courtesans to a riser being approached by two men, one being a samurai who rests his hands atop the platform in approach of a woman as two more male figures stand beside the open doorway peering in at the scene, the next room over viewed through a vertically slatted wall, the room with a green floor holding many geisha, many of whom play stringed instruments while others engage with men through the wall with one man at left smoking an opium pipe, the room to right with several men at the open wall, one atop an opium bed smoking a pipe and two engaging with women through the wall as two more men approach the scene, the final room to right with two couples, one to a bench with the woman leaning toward the man and her hand covering her mouth, the other with the woman holding a fan to her face as she guides the man away from the crowd, another group of three figures standing just in front of the structure with a woman beside two men pointing them toward the geishas. Overall approximately 22" x 63.5". Painting approximately 15" x 54".