Scenes of Kyōto and Its Environs

"Scenes of Kyoto and Its Environs" is a scroll painting by Sumiyoshi Gukei, a Japanese painter of the early Tokugawa period. Gukei was known for his adherence to the Yamato-e style, which focused on Japanese subjects and techniques, as opposed to the Chinese-influenced Kara-e style. His father was also a Yamato-e painter, and Gukei established the Sumiyoshi school, popularizing Yamato-e in Edo (modern Tokyo).

The scroll "Scenes of Kyoto and Its Environs" is notable for its vibrant style and realistic, often humorous, depiction of daily life among courtiers, townsfolk, and rural people. This vivid portrayal was exceptional for Yamato-e painters of that era. Kyoto itself, the subject of the painting, was Japan's capital for over a thousand years and remains a center of traditional Japanese culture.12