Object data
nishikie, with metallic pigments and blindprinting
height 135 mm × width 181 mm
Hishikawa Sôri
Two Women on a Shrine Visit
Japan, Japan, Japan, 1804
Provenance
…; purchased from the dealer Hotei Japanese Prints, Leiden, by J.H.W. Goslings (1943-2011), Epse, near Deventer, 1986;1 by whom donated to the museum, 1991
Object number: RP-P-1991-585
Credit line: Gift of J.H.W. Goslings, Epse
Copyright: Public domain
Context
For general notes on the series, see RP-P-1991-621.
The artist
Hishikawa Sori, previously Tawaraya Soji, also used the name Hyakurin, was a pupil of Katsushika Hokusai, who received the name Sori (III) in 1798.
Entry
Two women on their way to a shrine, one carrying a baby, the other holding a framed votive picture, ema, depicting two fox-masks, one gold, the other silver. To the right, a young boy holding a banner. The shrine precincts can be seen in the background.
This refers to the custom of visiting a shrine 30 days after a baby's birth. The kimono of the woman carrying the ema has been decorated with the recurring character `Manji', for the Manjiren, as well as the symbol identified with its leader, the poet Manzo, shaped as a stylised elephant (Jp.: zo).
Number Twelve - The Shrine Visit, Juni - Miyamairi, from the series The Rats' Wedding - A Series of Twelve Prints, Nezumi no yomeiri - Junimaitsuzuki.
Two poems by Nezame Yasuki [later just Nezame], and Shinratei Manzo [I, 1754-1809, firsts pupil of Hiraga Gennai, taking the name Furai Sanjin II; later, from the 1780s, taking the names Morishima Churyo and Manzotei].2
The poem by Yasuki assures us that:
It is good to visit a shrine on the 1st Day of the Horse in the Seventh Month.
Issued by the Manjiren
Signature reading: Hishikawa Sori ga
Literature
M. Forrer, Surimono in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Leiden 2013, no. 120
Citation
M. Forrer, 2013, 'Hishikawa Sôri, Two Women on a Shrine Visit, Japan, 1804', in Surimono from the Goslings Collection in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/200467469
(accessed 15 December 2025 02:45:44).