Flounder and Other Fishes

This is Kubo Shunman’s print, Flounder and Other Fishes. Although the print is undated, Shunman was active during the Edo period in Japan, a time of economic growth, strict social order, and flourishing arts. More than just a still life, this print reflects the Edo-period interest in the natural world, intertwined with social and cultural practices. In feudal Japan, where class distinctions were strictly enforced, depictions of everyday life, including food, provided a lens through which individuals could connect with their immediate environment. Food was not merely sustenance; it was a marker of identity, class, and regional culture. The poem inscribed on the print enhances this connection, speaking to a shared aesthetic sensibility. What is the relationship between the human and the natural? How do we give value and meaning to the things around us? This image is quietly radical; it elevates the ordinary and encourages us to find beauty in the mundane.