69 Utagawa Hiroshige III 1842 – 1894 The Ghost of the Courtesan Gendayū Attaining Enlightenment

publisher: Matsuki Heikichi

A diptych from the series Ukiyo-e Ruikō no uchi (“Various Genres of Pictures of the Floating World”), with the subtitle Kinkō seiga (“True Images of Past and Present”).

The scene depicts the ghost of the courtesan Gendayū (Maboroshi Tayū), draped in a sumptuous kimono bearing pine motifs – a symbol of longevity – and an image of an ascetic arhat beneath a waterfall, signifying repentance. In her hand she holds a Buddhist hossu fly whisk with white hair, while the cut locks on the floor symbolize her renunciation of a sinful life. A temple acolyte offers her an incense burner, and another servant carries a branch of blooming cherry blossoms toward a shrine with the seated arhat statue. Figures in the foreground were designed by Kunichika, the temple setting and garden by Hiroshige III.

The print alludes to the famous legend of the “Hell Courtesan” Jigoku Tayū, enlightened by the monk Ikkyū, yet does not depict her directly. Instead, it serves as a moralizing image aligned with the reformed social values of the Meiji era – the transformation of vice into virtue through Buddhist awakening.