Kidai Shoran (detail) © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Museum für Asiatische Kunst (Asian Art Museum, National Museums in Berlin), former collection of Hans-Joachim and Inge Küster, gift of Manfred Bohms 2002, photography: Tadao Kodaira

9Drunkards and dogs

Drunken men with red faces; at their feet, a dog sniffing at vomit. In Edo society, drinking in mid-day, even to the point of vomiting, was not looked down upon. Sake from Itami and Nada (both in present-day Hyogo prefecture) was popular. It was brought right into the city on ships, and the warehouses of sake wholesalers soon came to line the banks of Edo’s Shinkawa canal.