Enjoying the Evening Cool Along the Sumida River

c. 1797–98

Enjoying the Evening Cool Along the Sumida River, c. 1797–98. Kitagawa Utamaro (Japanese, c. 1754–1806). Triptych of woodblock prints; ink and color on paper; overall: 37.5 x 25.3 cm (14 3/4 x 9 15/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Fanny Tewksbury King Collection 1956.753 People crowding the Ryōgoku Bridge over the Sumida River and those aboard party boats below enjoy summer fireworks. Among a group gathered on the riverbank a little boy stands holding his caged pet cricket in one hand, and a young woman’s hand in the other. At left, a boy with a lantern advertising the name of the restaurant for which he works, “Ōnoshi,” guides two women away.