Information
Date : 1869
Size : O-ban / Continuity of 10 images
Impression : Good
Condition : Good
Detail : Slight browning / Restored small wormholes
Shin-Shimabara is a brothel district that was established in present-day Chuo-Ku a month before the Meiji era began. It was named after Shimabara Yukaku in Kyoto and was surrounded by walls on all sides.
Shin Shimabara was established with the expectation of attracting customers from the foreign settlement in Tsukiji, but it was moved to Shin Yoshiwara after only three years. It was due to strict restrictions to Japanese people bringing weapons into there and the fact that it did not attract as many foreigners as expected.
After that, the site became bustling Shintomi-Cho.
Kuniteru II was a pupil of Toyokuni III, and began his career as Kunitsuna II around the Bunkyu period, and changed his name to Kuniteru II around the Keio period.
After becoming Kuniteru, he painted many Kaika-e paintings, most of which were railroad paintings, and his depictions of steam locomotives were much more precisely observed than those of other painters.
His Kaika-e paintings from the end of the Edo period to the beginning of the Meiji period are of documentary value.