The Chanter Tomimoto Buzendayu and the Geisha Tetsu and Sanosuke as Street Venders of Clay Cooking Pots and Hand Drums in the Dance, from the series Entertainments for the Niwaka Festival in Yoshiwara

The Yoshiwara was the entertainment district of Edo known for theaters, tea houses, and brothels. Relegated to the outskirts of town by the moralistic Tokugawa government, the district attracted customers by staging festivals throughout the year, often with parades, performances and general spectacle. One such event was the Niwaka Festival, held in the eighth month.

This print refers to a skit titled Kotobuki miyako no nishiki, performed at the festival in 1795, with three performers arranged in a triad like a Buddhist religious image. At the top, the geisha Tetsu is in the role of a hand-drum seller. To the left another geisha, Sanosuke, is dressed as a seller of clay cooking pots. On the right is the famous stage narrator-chanter, Tomimoto Buzendayū II, who may have narrated the skit.