Suzuki Harunobu
Japan, 1724­1770
Lovers Looking for Fireflies at Night
1768
Woodblock print
27.9 x 20.3 cm
Clarence Buckingham Collection, 1952.327

In this color woodblock print two young people are catching fireflies in Japan. Do you see the small cage where they will put the fireflies? What do they use to catch the fireflies?

Harunobu lived over two hundred years ago. His many prints are full of details of the costume, hairstyle, pastimes, and everyday activities of the Japanese middle class of his time. Like this print, most of his works contain no more than two main figures.