Japan: 'The Hour of the Dog' - Inu no koku - (c. 8pm–10pm). Utamaro Kitagawa...

During the Edo period (1603 - 1868), the Japanese clock was divided into twelve units of time, or ‘hours’, with each one named after one of the zodiacal symbols of the lunar calendar, and with the day being divided up into six daytime hours and six night-time hours. This woodblock print is taken from Kitagawa Utamaro's 1794-1795 ukiyo-e series 'Twelve Hours of the Green Rooms', sometimes styled 'Twelve Hours of the Yoshiwara', featuring everyday events in the lives of courtesans in Edo's Yoshiwara pleasure district. It is the Hour of the Dog, around 8 o’clock in the evening. In the salon in the front part of the house, a courtesan is writing a letter to one of her clients and whispers something in the ear of the young assistant who waits attentively by her side.