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Paper short abstract

Challenging the view that scenic backgrounds in ukiyo-e emerged only with nishiki-e in 1765, this paper examines the intermedial exchange between illustrated books and single-sheet prints, situating the early work of Suzuki Harunobu (1725?–1770) within broader ukiyo-e developments since the 1740s.

Paper long abstract

It is commonly assumed that scenic backgrounds in ukiyo-e single-sheet prints emerged only with the onset of Suzuki Harunobu’s (1725?–1770) multicolour prints (nishiki-e 錦絵), which he began publishing in 1765. However, Harunobu had already utilised intricately detailed background compositions in the reduced-colour prints (benizuri-e 紅摺絵) with which he made his debut in 1760. In these compositions, he could draw not only on developments in single-sheet print design that began in the 1740s, but also on his gradually increasing expertise in designing illustrated books (ehon 絵本), in which backgrounds are integral elements that span the divide between double-page spread (mihiraki 見開き) compositions.

This cross-fertilisation between single-sheet prints and ehon is frequently overlooked, as much of ukiyo-e scholarship tends to treat both media independently. Moreover, interpretations of ukiyo-e often focus on the depicted figures and literary allusions within the compositions while bypassing the backgrounds despite their significance for the narrative quality of the final design. As a consequence, Harunobu’s attention to detail in his nishiki-e is commonly highlighted as a revolutionary invention that became possible with the introduction of full-colour printing in 1765, rather than being recognised as resulting from the first five years of his career, during which he created numerous single-sheet prints and five ehon.

To illuminate how Harunobu created his background designs and gradually increased his compositional craftsmanship, this paper introduces an early composition which he published in the first month of 1761, i.e. just six months after his debut. It will thus become evident how such designs helped him attract the attention of commercial publishers and how he established himself in the competitive print market.