The Seiro Bijin Awase is one of the finest multi-color woodblock printed books in Japan. It was published in 1770. The book depicts 166 courtesans of Yoshiwara, Edo (now part of Tokyo) and put the courtesans' names, the names of the brothels where they worked, and haiku in the background. 

The Seiro Bijin Awase shows beautiful courtesans and their pastimes; 

(picture1)
 From the right: A courtesan called "Wakana" doing calligraphy exercises (page 1-cho-ura), a courtesan called "Ukifune" looking at a picture (page 2-cho-omote), vol.1

(picture 2)
Two courtesans called "Shizuhata" (right) and "Shizukaze" (left) playing cards (page 41-cho-ura , page 42-cho-omote), vol.3
 
 

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Two courtesans called "Matsukaze" (right) and "Hatsuito" (left) holding a tea ceremony, (page 61-cho-ura, 62-cho-omote), vol.5

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Two courtesans called "Himegiku" (right) and "Katsuragi" (left) playing instruments (page 77-cho-ura, 78-cho-omote), vol.5

The Seiro Bijin Awase consists of five books in five volumes. The original title slip on which the book title and the volume title were printed is attached to in the center of the front cover (pic.5). Each volume is compiled according to the subject of the haiku: volume 1 for sakura (cherry blossoms), volume 2 for hototogisu (little cuckoo), volume 3 for tsuki (the moon), volume 4 for momiji (the beautifully tinted autumn leaves) and volume 5 for yuki (snow). 

At the end of volume 5 is the imprint, which shows the publication date, the publisher's name and the etcher's name (pic.6). Though the designer's name is not directly mentioned, Suzuki Harunobu is thought to have designed the illustrations of the Seiro Bijin Awase as his name is mentioned in the preface. Harunobu was a leading ukiyo-e artist in the Meiwa period (1764-1771, part of the Edo Period) and he was very good at depicting young beauties. He is also said to be the pioneer of nishiki-e (multi-colored prints), having produced a number of works of printed art. 

(picture 5) Front cover of vol.4	(picture 6) Imprint at the back of vol.5

The Seiro Bijin Awase is a priceless masterpiece of Japanese art. It also possesses historic value in the development of printing techniques in Japan. In addition, the courtesans' behavior, the clothes they wear and the objects they use are worth observing because they show us many aspects of the Japanese culture. The NDL designated the Seiro Bijin Awase as a "Rare book". You can view all the pages of the Seiro Bijin Awase at the Rare books of the National Diet Library and the Rare Books Image Database (Japanese only).