Oiso 

Keisai Eisen's woodblock print, "Oiso," presents a bathing woman against the backdrop of a bustling coastal village. Here, water takes centre stage, both literally and figuratively. Water, universally revered for its cleansing and life-giving properties, appears both as a practical element for hygiene and as a deeper symbol of purification and renewal. We can trace the motif of ritual bathing from ancient Greek bathhouses to Christian baptismal fonts. Each carries a similar symbolic weight of spiritual cleansing and rebirth. Consider the emotional undercurrent of such acts: the vulnerability of exposure, the shedding of past burdens, and the anticipation of a fresh start. The woman’s posture, bent in labour, evokes not just physical exertion but perhaps also a psychological act of self-renewal. Thus, Eisen’s image speaks to the cyclical nature of life, where the act of cleansing is not merely a physical necessity but a recurring symbolic gesture, echoing through art and culture across millennia.