Unknown Artist: Money Running Towards the Working Class (This Ukiyo-e World, no thank you) 浮世は御免だ御免だ

Artist: Unknown Utagawa School Artist
Title: This Ukiyo world, no thank you! (ukiyo wa gomenda,gomenda) 浮世は御免だ御免だ Date: ca 1860

Fascinating giga 戯画 or kyô-ga 狂画– a satire, or humorous depiction– of a socioeconomic situation at the time, with a pun on floating world that must relate to boatmen who float on water.

Below we see a townsman (probably a merchant), who sits with a downcast face and serious expression in front of two large packs. The sign next to him reads “The man in town with a lot of things/belongings” (shichû no mono-mochi 市中のものもち), meaning a wealthy townsman.

Above, two men who work in the river transportation business are enjoying an unusually luxurious meal. The man at left has tattoos, and the man at right has a scruffy beard; they seem very much of the working class. They have expressions of glee and the boatman holds a sake bottle, his companion holding out his cup. The sign to the right reads “Men who receive orders” (go-yô tori 御ようとり). Next to them we see a pile of nets, which are used to cover the load on a boat. In the middle the cartouche reads boatsmen/sailors (funa-noriふなのり), which must refer to the seated man with the tattoo.

The two scenes are connected with a chain of dancing, unclothed characters who have various denominations of currency as heads and are heading up from the man at bottom to the men on top.

This scene must relate to the logistics of the Edo period, whose population was booming and the transportation costs in waterways were becoming so  high, that in this case, the costs for shipping for the townsman became a problem. Everything had to be transported to the huge city of Edo, and the logistics of the country were fulfilled with hikyaku on land, a running messenger of the station to the station, the shipping routes the east bound and the west bound on sea. Here is the depiction of river transport by boatsmen. Here we see the contrasting scenes of the flourishing boatsmen and the townsmen in difficulty. The money flows from townsmen to the boatsmen by the chain of currency-headed figures.

We can note the different types of money; we see in the chain of money from the bottom, the three currency units: the largest ryo 両coin in gold;  bu 分 silver coin, and shu 朱in paper. One ichibu silver (一分銀) in blue rectangular values one fourth of ichiryô gold (一両金) coin above. This silver coin was introduced during 1830s. to 1860s. The smaller 3 shu (3朱) in red, values one fourth of bu.(With thanks to Michiko Sato-Grube for her translation and description assistance.)

Condition: Very good impression, color and condition. Backed

Dimensions: 35.3 x 24.3 cm (ôban)  Signed: Unsigned, as usual

SKU: ANO041