5 minSeason 4 • Episode 9
LatestWe visit a terakoya, a school teaching reading and writing. Today the young students have come dressed in their finest, and are busy putting brush to paper to show off their calligraphy skills.
Centuries ago, Tokyo was known as Edo. More than a million people enjoyed life in this small but abundant city. They live on in ukiyo-e woodblock prints. Each episode is a deep dive into a single print, and an exploration of the soul of Old Tokyo. We examine works by artists like Hokusai and Hiroshige not just for their aesthetic and historical value, but for the stories they tell of everyday life. That is how the people of Edo themselves enjoyed this mass-produced medium.
JP
