Children of Shogunate
This extravagant ink painting was created by the artist Hanabusa Itchô (1562–1724). This painting was painted onto a traditional scroll. It shows how children were treated in the Shogunate period. The name of this primary source painting is ‘Puppeteers’. Puppeteers shows the simplicity’s of a child’s life in the Shogunate period. The date this painting was created is unknown. It is believed that the aimed audience for this painting is the people of the Shogunate period especially the lower class people. The message that this painting conveys is the childhood experiences that are commonly shared between both genders (male and female). The activity that the painting shows is the children watching a puppet show outdoors that is being performed by two older citizens and enjoying the show with other children of the lower class. The scene is set out the front of a few little shops houses. This painting shows that children in lower classes were able to enjoy themselves and have fun while being entertained outdoors, where as if they were in the higher classes they wouldn’t be outdoors enjoying the company of older citizens entertaining them, they would be indoors playing with their manufactured toys by themselves. This type of source is a primary source (primary source is shown below). A technique used to shoe how the message is conveyed by the facial expressions of the children and how they are so entertained by the puppet show. The painting also shows how basic and simple the town was as there is only a few things to be sighted in the painting. In conclusion this painting shows the simplicity’s of the lower class citizen and how the children were treated as they had only a few things to keep them entertained. For a child in the Shogunate period it was clear they had very simple lives unlike the higher-class children.