Yamagata Prefectural Designated Tangible Cultural Property: Safflower Folding Screen (Right Panel), a six-panel pair by Aoyama Eiko, late Edo period (19th century)
It depicts the entire process from safflower production to shipping, retail sales, and distribution. The right panel depicts sowing work, flower pickers wearing hats in the upper distance, and the process of making `benimochi` (safflower cakes, also known as `hanamochi`). The left panel shows packing work, the arrival of `sengokubune` (large cargo ships), and a scene of a safflower wholesaler in Kyoto.
The artist, Aoyama Eiko, was born in Higashine Rokuta, Dewa Province (present-day Yamagata and Akita prefectures) in 1817 (Bunka 14). He initially studied under Maruno Seikoumon, a painter for the Kaminoyama Domain. Later, he studied under Kano Eitoku Risshin in Edo and adopted the art name Kano Eiko Oshin. He died in 1879 (Meiji 12).