Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858), Asakusa Ricefields and Torinomachi Festival from the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, 1857. Color woodblock print; 22 ½ x 16 inches.
Cats! They’re all over the damn Internet (and even in New York's first cat café), thanks to the legions of feline fanciers jonesing for a fix of kitty cuteness. Of course, in a millennium desperate for distraction, it’s easy to forget that cats have enthralled many cultures at various points in history. The ancient Egyptians, for example, were very big on cats. And if you believe the Japan Society, so too, were the Japanese during the Edo Period between 1603 and 1868 (You could say they still are, even if Sanrio, the company behind Hello Kitty, denied the character was a cat last year). Starting March 13, the Japan Society will be hosting an exhibition of traditional Ukiyo-e woodblocks. Titled Life of Cats: Selections from the Hiraki Ukiyo-e Collection, the images on offer will feature the likenesses of cats in various situations—from the straightforwardly awww (a Geisha hugging her sweetums) to the bizarre (a human-as-cat leaning on an octopus, who’s presumably waiting to be turned into sushi). There are also scary cats, bored-looking cats, and cats engaged in typical cat behaviors. In all, the show promises to be a pussy riot of fun for fans of cats and Japanese art, alike.
