The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido (Jimbutsu Edition): #15 Yoshiwara
Utagawa Hiroshige
Description
Andō Hiroshige
Japan, 1797–1858
The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō ( Jimbutsu edition): #15 Yoshiwara
Edo period (1615–1868)
1852
Color woodblock print on paper
Gift of J C Mathes and the Tokyo Center for Language and Culture (TCLC), 2008/2.317
During the late Edo period (1615–1868), domestic tourism in Japan was booming. Although the uses of woodblock prints were varied, one of their functions was to serve as either mementos of or surrogates for travel. These prints are by two of the best-known Japanese woodblock artists, Andō Hiroshige and Katsushika Hokusai, who produced many works featuring famous landscapes. A significant number of them include Mount Fuji, which was visible from Edo (modern-day Tokyo) and emblematic of both the capital city and the country itself. Indeed Mount Fuji was so closely identified with the city that both artists occasionally depicted it larger than it would have appeared, as here, or in the background of locations from which it could not have been seen.
Subject Matter:
Fishermen in boats in shallow water near Yoshiwara along the Tokaido Road. Mt. Fuji can be seen in the distance.
Physical Description:
Fishermen in boats in shallow water with mountain n the distance. Writing in the upper left corner. Flock of birds in the distance in front of the mountain.
Usage Rights:
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