To To Meisho Series in Gathering Seaweed at Omon 

Curator: This print, "Gathering Seaweed at Omon," is part of Utagawa Kuniyoshi's To To Meisho series. There's a real stillness in it, don't you think? Editor: Absolutely. It's a quiet scene, almost dreamlike. The seaweed harvesters in their boat, framed by those reeds, suggest a harmony with nature but also the precarity of that relationship. Curator: That bold red sun, though—it’s such a focal point. I wonder what it represents for Kuniyoshi? Maybe an observation on the rising sun as a national symbol and its relation to the working class? Editor: I see it as an emblem of labor itself. The fishermen’s livelihoods are tied to the tides, to natural cycles. It reminds us that the work done on the water is not just labor but a way of life intertwined with the environment. Curator: Yes, a way of life, beautifully captured! I think there's a lot more depth here than meets the eye. Editor: Indeed, Kuniyoshi invites us to look closer at the lives sustained by our ecosystem.