Utamaro showed the activities of the courtesans, or “yujō” in the Yoshiwara over a full day and night, from dawn, throught the day and night until the next dawn by means of his 12 piece vertical oban series, Twelve Hours in the Yoshiwara (Seirō jūni toki Tsuzuki).  The set was lavishly printed and published by Tsutaya Jūzaburō in 1794-5. 1

The 24 hours of the day are divided into 12 segments corresponding to about two hours with each segment named for one of the 12 animals of the zodiac.  The prints are normally catalogued from 1 – 12 as they relate to the 12 months of the zodiac, however, Dr. Julie Nelson-Davis proposes a more natural cycle where the first view is when the characters rise from their slumber to begin their day around the hour of the snake (around 10 AM). 2

Keeping with the usual convention by which the set is usually catalogued, we have numbered the prints here according to custom, but considering the prints from the time the the yūjo wake, as they are presented in Utamaro and the spectacle of Beauty, seems more natural.  

Utamaro’s Twelve Hours series depicts the normal activities that a patron might observe whilst in the presence of his courtesan and goes further than other similar series by depicting the private activities of the yūjō before her customer arrives, during his visit, and as he departs.  In each of the twelve prints the hours and titles are written on the cartouche which is designed as a clock; with the hour (zodiac designation) written on the bell and the series title extending down below the clock between the weights.  The floral designs on the clock often refer to the actual composition of the figures in the print, a literary trope, or a floral code.  3

The set as a whole, was designed for the male viewer.  The sequence of prints sketches a narrative whereby the activities of the women of the quarter have the main objective of satisfying their client.  Since the presence of the male client is only implied, there is a space for the viewer of the prints to imagine themself as an observer, or a voyeur, or perhaps a participant in the scene depicted in an individual print.  Nelson-Davis postulates that the compositions and their subject suppose that Utamaro, whose signature is printed on the surface of the images is just such a man, for who else but one so well acquainted with the customs of the Yoshiwara could render it visible?  The signature, stands in as metaphor of his physical presence, and is cumulatively reiterated through the set to delineate him as the ultimate insider in the world of the Yoshiwara.  4

Women viewers of-the-day may have seen and appreciated the scenes, but the pictures operate according to the terms of a man’s desire.  The figures in each scene are organized to encourage the viewer to imagine himself before the picture; in each, the objects of his gaze are turned to three-quarter view so that he may view them all the better, and his presence as a voyeur is never directly challenged.  In fact, each of the twelve scenes, a compositional element or an object implies the woman’s desire for a male presence, either in an oblique literary reference in the cartouche, or directly such as the additional element such as a letter from a lover.4

Nevertheless, Dr. Nelson-Davis posits that Utamaro’s successful series may have only created the illusion that he was, in fact, privileged to observe all the hours of the day in composing his opus.  She asserts that it is a open question whether he actually had such private access or if he was working to sustain the Yoshiwara illusion by only appearing to reveal its operations. 5

All the above adapted from or excerpted from: 

Nelson-Davis, Julie: Utamaro and the Spectacle of Beauty, Second Edition.   Chapter III, pp. 131-152, Behind the Brocade and Other Yoshiwara Illusions.  Reaktion Books, Ltd. 2021

1. Ibid at 131
2. Ibid at 132
3. Ibid at 132
4. Ibid at 134
5. Ibid at 153