# Courtesans Promenading on the Nakanochō

- By: Utagawa Toyokuni (Japanese, 1769–1825)
- Date: c. 1790
- Medium: One of a triptych of color woodblock prints
- Classification: Print
- Dimensions: Each: 37.8 x 25.8 cm (14 7/8 x 10 3/16 in.)
- Culture: Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
- Credit line: Bequest of Edward L. Whittemore
- Museum: [Cleveland Museum of Art](https://clevelandart.org/art/1930.211.b)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1930.211.b/1930.211.b_web.jpg
- Who can see it: Teens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

Nakanochō was the main street in Yoshiwara, a famous walled pleasure district that housed as many as 4,000 courtesans. In the early evening, elaborately dressed courtesans accompanied by attendants promenaded on the central thoroughfare, as in this scene. The open buildings with shop curtains hanging from their eaves are teahouses, establishments where men could arrange appointments with courtesans of the more prestigious brothels.