A Courtesan's Day: Hour by Hour

A courtesan's day in the carefree atmosphere of the famous pleasure quarter the Yoshiwara in Edo (present-day Tokyo) was carefully planned to an hourly schedule. This sequence of 12 and later 24 hours proved a convenient device for Japanese print artists and their publishers when devising sets of prints showing favourite beauties of the day engaged in daily activities.
In this second volume of Hotei Publishing's Famous Japanese Prints Series, three sets centred on the theme of the hours o…