Ukiyoe-wood block printing

42.Mount Fuji reflects in Lake Kawaguchi, seen from the Misaka Pass in Kai Province   Mt. Fuji drawn from the north side looks more precipitous than any other prints in the Japanese woodcut print series of “Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji”.   Katsushika Hokusai（1760-1849) provided the original ideas to this quiet and silent ukiyo-e art. First of all, in […]

41.Inume Pass, in Kai Province There was a post-town on the pass, and it was located on the Koshu Highway between the current Uenohara-shi and Otsuki-shi Yamanashi prefecture. The ukiyo-e artwork shows that the color of light vegetation is the early summer season, and the travelers walk ahead of massive Mt. Fuji.By the small persons and horses walking the

40.Fuji View Field in Owari Province   The place, Fujimihara, was located on the outskirts of Nagoya-shi, Aichi prefecture, and known as a scenic spot where there are red light districts and samurai’s residences.   Many craftsmen appear in the series of “Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji”, but the ukiyo-e woodblock printing of this craftsman is said to

39.Yoshida at Tōkaidō       Yoshida flourished as a castle town in Toyohashi-shi, Aichi Prefecture. The shop depicted in the Japanese woodblock printing is a tea house, “不二見茶屋”(The viewing Mt. Fuji tea house, the signboard of the center). The travelers are getting rid of their tiredness and enjoying the view.   On the large and small

38.Mount Fuji from the Mountains of Tōtōmi   Tōtōmi was the old name of Shizuoka Province. The craftsmen are sawing the timber with many times the height of a person.   Katsushika Hokusai placed the timber on the diagonal of the screen and created similar triangles with the wood and props. It created a unique geometric pattern.   The

37.The Fuji from Kanaya on the Tōkaidō   Kanaya was the current Shimada-shi, Shizuoka prefecture, and the ferry landing to cross the Ooi River. Because of the defensive reasons for the Edo shogunate, they didn’t build a bridge over the river.     The Ooi river was famous for its large amount of water and difficult to cross. And this painting

35.Shore of Tago Bay, Ejiri at Tōkaidō   Tago Bay is famous as a place where Mt. Fuji looks beautiful from the ancient time and has been written in waka and haiku, including Man’yoshu. White‐spotted Mt. Fuji spreads the grand skirt under the clear blue sky. Those who on the beach between the mountain and the ocean are the people

35.Ejiri in Suruga Province   It is a famous artwork that the British photographer Jeff Wall was influenced by the woodblock printing and made the work of ‘A Sudden Gust of Wind'(1993).   This picture captures the moment when a tremendous gust is blowing. The papers and woven hat are blown off and away by the wind. The sky where

34.Climbing on Fuji     It is a ukiyo-e print depicting the people climbing the mountain, not in a distant view as other artworks of the series.   “Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji” is now a famous landscape painting with the theme of Mt. Fuji. But when the pictures were sold in Edo Period, the publisher Nishimura-ya Yohachi