Hour of the Dragon: 7:00 - 9:00

One design from Utamaro's famous series 'Twelve Hours in the Yoshiwara' - actually 24 hours, as the day is here broken into 12 2-hour groups.

This print represents the Hour of the Dragon, which equates roughly to what we would call 8:00 am. While it looks as if the two courtesan apprentices are preparing to rise and start their day (as the "hour" of the print suggests), the British Museum points out that the two young women, perhaps kept up all night at an appointment, are actually preparing to sleep. The girl removing one of her hairpins and adjusting her pillow is a hint that the two have just laid down.

Unlike most of the other prints in this series, tiny flakes of gold leaf have not been scattered in the background. This version is from the Adachi Company, probably from the 70s to early 80s.