Japanese Prints: Concepts of Time

May 31 – September 11, 2007

Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III)

Japan, 1786-1865

Obon Festival Dance

Color woodblock print

Image: 13 15/16 x 9 9/16 in. (35.4 x 24.3 cm); Sheet: 13 15/16 x 9 9/16 in. (35.4 x 24.3 cm)

LACMA, Los Angeles County Fund

Photo © 2007 Museum Associates/LACMA

   For centuries the Japanese conceived of time in the same way that they thought of days and years, in association with zodiacal animals, each day having twelve periods lasting two Western hours each.

  Suddenly, in the Meiji period (1868-1912), the Japanese government required all Japanese citizens to adopt the Western 24-hour clock.

  Artists followed the precedent set by Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806) and other artists to explore what times of day now meant to beauties and entertainers. The prints in this installation will look at times of day in the new Westernized fashion and what beauties and entertainers did at certain hours of the day.