Woodblock Print Triptych by Shogetsu: Tokugawa Shogun Pleasure Boat, Framed

A red barge the size of a small town, crowded with lanterns and flags, with rowboats crowding in to see.

This woodblock print triptych, framed, is Tokugawa Shogun Pleasure Boat by Shogetsu, from Japan, dated 1889, in ink on paper. Ukiyo-e prints of the Meiji era often looked back to the Tokugawa period with bright, crowded spectacle, and triptychs let a scene sprawl across three sheets. A great vermilion vessel fills the center, its decks lined with figures, red-and-white lanterns, banners and a pavilion on top. Smaller red boats with oarsmen and passengers surround it on blue water, with cherry trees on the far shore. It is 42 inches wide and 28 high overall.

Nobody ever accused a shogun of traveling light.