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A study on ≪Northern Goshikisumi≫ to Utamaro and his ukiyo-e Kitagawa Utamaro is a master of the painting of the beauty who is excelled in soft line drawing, variety of figure and delicate facial expression of a woman. He was well known as an Ukiyo-e painter of the Edo period among European countries in the modern times. When he represented ≪Northern Goshikisumi(北国五色墨)≫to the public in 1794, the figure of the beauty included prostitutes from the lowest class that was considered far from the ideal figure of woman. The figure of the beauty in his paintings is shown as femme fatal and seems so sensual that nothing can have been parallel to such expression in history. In his painting, <Oiran(花魁)> and <Geigi(芸妓)> seduce a man by fascinating readings and hand gestures. Especially <Teppo(鉄砲)> among the three of the lowest prostitute is drawn as a death-threatening femme fatal who puts a life of a man into deadly dangerous situation. In his ≪Northern Goshikisumi(北国五色墨)≫, Utamaro considered these prostitutes equal to himself whose painting activity had been restricted by Kansei reforms and described the tragic reality of them who had been driven to the world of filth by unilateral decision of somebody. In other words, he wanted to reveal the cruel reality of the Edo period through the media of painting. Despite of the restriction of publishing by Bakuhu(幕府), Utamaro was bold enough to continue his painting of the beauty and represented ≪Taiko gosai rakuto yukan no zu (太閤五妻洛東遊観之図)≫ in 1804 that is based on Toyotomi hideyosi(豊臣秀吉). The painting was understood as a parody of hideyosi(秀吉) expressed like Tokugawa ienari(徳川家斉), the 11th general of Bakuhu in the Edo period. Because of this, he was sentenced by 2 days in prison and 50 days of being handcuffed. In short, Utamaro used the media of Ukiyo-e, one of the most popular journalism, to transmit the important messages to the society.

Utamaro, Okubi-e, Color print, Edo Period, Tsutaya Juzaburo, publisher