ezo-e　蝦夷絵

KEY WORD :　art history / paintings

The paintings of the Ainu アイヌ of Hokkaidou 北海道and Sakhalin サハリン, focusing on their everyday activities and yearly festivals. This was a popular subject in the latter half of the 19c, before photography was introduced to Japan. They were produced by *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 artists and other popular artists of the day, but the latter did not usually sign their names. Utagawa Kuniyoshi 歌川国芳 (1797-1861) was among the earliest to include scenes of Ainu in the background of his beauty prints *bijinga 美人画. Most of the prints of Ainu produced around the mid 19c were from copies or based on oral stories, but later artists such as Yoshimune 芳宗 (1817-80) actually went to Hokkaidou and observed their daily life. In 1871, Nidai Kuniteru 二代国輝 (1829-74), Sandai Hiroshige 三代広重 (1843-94) and Eitaku 永濯 (1843-90) together produced a set of eighteen prints which included several scenes of Ainu daily life entitled Gennyo Shounin Hokkaidou junkyou no zu 現如上人北海道巡教之図.

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