Ukiyo-e 16, TH-1, Handbag - Hokkei, The Seaweed-gathering Ritual

Ukiyo-e Bag - The Seaweed-gathering Ritual. Art inspires fashion - Exotic style fashion. Ukiyo-e (Japanese, meaning "Pictures of the Floating World"). Ukiyo-e depicts and records the life of Japanese people in the Edo period. It represents Japanese art of 17-19 centuries. The Seaweed-gathering Ritual at Nagato from the series “Famous Places in the Provinces”「諸国名所 長門布刈神事」In this painting we see rows of big waves chased two men who were desperately running. Actually, it depicts an ancient Japanese ritual "seaweed collection" which is related to a very old story. A Japanese emperor in the late 4th century conquered his enemies. In order to celebrate the triumph, he became a priest to collect the wakame seaweed from Seto (瀬戸) in the early spring and provide it to people.The event is held every year in the early morning, usually at two or three o’clock, of the Lunar New Year. At low tide, the priests carry sickle and torch to harvest wakame seaweed in the ebb tide waters, and dedicate it to