Two Girls Play the Finger Game of Kitsume Ken

Editor: Here we have Suzuki Harunobu’s diptych, "Two Girls Play the Finger Game of Kitsune Ken," created sometime between 1725 and 1770. It’s a traditional Japanese woodblock print, a medium known as ukiyo-e. I find the muted colors and the everyday scene very soothing, yet the gestures of the girls feel oddly formalized. What am I missing here? What do you see in this image? Curator: Ah, yes. Serenity with an undertone of something…else. Harunobu, you know, was a master of capturing the ephemeral. These women are playing Kitsune-ken, a hand game similar to rock-paper-scissors, but what if this 'game' speaks to a deeper human comedy? It makes me wonder about ritual and mimicry - is the playful competition reflective of social dances that occur beyond our game squares, too? Notice how the text dances around the women in a delicate sort of conversation - how do those calligraphic lines play on your imagination? Editor: It almost seems like the text is a third participant. What were the original viewers meant to make of that? Curator: Think of it as musical counterpoint – words, images, gesture entwined. Maybe that's it; perhaps it’s not about solving it all, but letting it evoke something within ourselves? Does it invite a sense of wonder in *you*? Editor: Yes, absolutely. I came looking for context and historical background, but I am leaving with a better sense of playfulness about it, and perhaps even a deeper question mark about life, too. Thank you! Curator: My pleasure! Never underestimate the playful game as portal to those human truths we never quite manage to grasp with words!