We are pleased to launch the new exhibition, Maternal Health and Images of the Body in Japanese Ukiyo-e, on view on the third floor of the UCSF Kalmanovitz  Library at Parnassus Heights from November 2023 through December 2024. This exhibition explores the historical perspectives surrounding the human body and maternal health in Japan through the lens of ukiyo-e woodblock prints.  

Location: UCSF Kalmanovitz Library, third floor (street level), 530 Parnassus Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94143  

For directions, public transportation, and parking information, please visit: https://www.library.ucsf.edu/about/directions/  

At this time, only UCSF badge holders are granted access to library spaces.  We invite general public to make researvations to view this exhibit before the library reopens (library anticipates re-opening to the general public in early 2024).

The UCSF Library is committed to making its facilities, activities, and events accessible. If you need reasonable accommodations for this event, please contact Polina Ilieva at polina.ilieva@ucsf.edu. 

About the exhibition 

The central question framing the selection of the exhibited images, most provided by the UCSF Japanese Woodblock Print Collection and the International Research Center for Japanese Studies (Nichibunken) collection, is how was the human body represented in mid-19th century Japan? Ukiyo-e refers to a genre of hand-drawn paintings and woodblock prints from the Edo period (1603-1868) to the 20th century. By drawing on various visual arts and medical media, this exhibit examines pregnancy and childbirth in early modern Japan and how birth control methods such as abortion and mabiki (infanticide or “thinning out”) were viewed at the time.   

Maternal Health and Images of the Body in Japanese Ukiyo-e is curated by Manami Yasui, PhD, and her project team from the International Research Center for Japanese Studies (Nichibunken, Kyoto, Japan), with assistance from the UCSF Archives and Special Collections team and exhibition design by Mark McGowan. 

Image credit: Realize One’s Parental Love 父母の恩を知る図, 1880. Utagawa, Yoshitora, UCSF Japanese Woodblock Print Collection