Ukiyoe-wood block printing

Katsushika Hokusai’s art print, ‘Tama River in Musashi Province’

22.Tama River in Musashi Province     In Edo Period, when the author of “Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji” Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) lives, there were the only two bridges on Tama River, the Rokugo Bridge (Oota-ku and Kawasaki-shi) and the Mannen Bridge (Okutama-cho and Ome-shi). Because of the military defense reasons, the Edo shogunate did not build […]

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‘Goten-yama-hill, Shinagawa on the Tōkaidō’ painting by Katsushika Hokusai

20.Goten-yama-hill, Shinagawa on the Tōkaidō     Goten-yama-hill at Shinagawa was famous for the beautiful cherry blossoms in the Edo period. Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) made a lot of ukiyo-e about cherry blossom, but Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) drew just one work in the series of “Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji“.   Not only the pale pink of the blossoms attract

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Mt. Fuji art, Ushibori in Hitachi Province by Katsushika Hokusai

19.Ushibori in Hitachi Province     The ukiyo-e printing depicts the Lake Kasumigaura in the early morning. As the cold colors underlie, this artwork is the scene of the winter and express the freezing weather. A man is pouring away the water that has been used to wash rice to the lake from the boat with the roof.

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Katsushika Hokusai’s Mount Fuji artwork, ‘Bay of Noboto’

18.Bay of Noboto   People are gathering the shells in shallows of Bay of Noboto. The two Torii of Towatari Shrine in the sea. They still locate in today’s Chiba-shi, Chiba Prefecture. But they was moved before and not in the sea now. They take a similar figure and the simple line of Mt. Fuji is placed

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Mt. Fuji art print, ‘The Kazusa Province Sea Route’ by Katsushika Hokusai

17.The Kazusa Province Sea Route   Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) used the Prussian blue pigment also for the ukiyo-e art effectively. This woodblock printing seems to be drawn from the view point of Uraga Channel in the Kazusa Province (today’s Chiba Prefecture).   On the Boso Peninsula, there were many harbors including, Kemigawa Harbor, Kisarazu Harbor, and Yawata-ura.   We can see the

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Katsushika Hokusai’s Mt.Fuji art, ‘Tsukuda Island in Musashi Province’

16.Tsukuda Island in Musashi Province One of the ukiyo-e art from “Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji” by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849).      Several ships and two islands float on the Tokyo Bay. Ishikawa island is covered with trees on the left side and Tsukuda Island is the one where crowded with the fishermen’s houses on the right

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Katsushika Hokusai’s landscape ukiyo-e art, ‘Pleasure District at Senju’

15.Pleasure District at Senju   It is the ukiyo-e woodblock print, one of the “Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji“, depicting the scenery along the Nikko Highway.  The row of people in the front is the daimyo’s procession, they are on the way to their home. They hold the firearms and spears in the scarlet bags.   The houses of Senju pleasure district

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Landscape ukiyo-e, ‘Senju, Musashi Province’ by Katsushika Hokusai

14.Senju, Musashi Province   Senju was the first post town on the highways of Nikko-dochu and Oshu-dochu, prospering as one of the four major postal station in Edo.   The farmer with the horse and the angler hand over the shade and look up to Mt. Fuji. at the same time. They may be talking something about the view

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Landscape ukiyo-e, Sekiya Village on the Sumida River by Katsushika Hokusai

13.Sekiya Village on the Sumida River  The Japanese woodblock print is one of the series of “Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji” by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849). Sekiya was the area around Senju dry riverbed on the Sumida River. The winding road that three samurai riding on the horsebacks was the Ushida bank.   The mustle of the horses

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‘Sunset across the Ryōgoku Bridge…’ ukiyo-e art by Katsushika Hokusai

12.Sunset across the Ryōgoku Bridge from the bank of the Sumida River at Onmayagashi     The ukiyo-e woodblock printing silhouettes the figure of Mt. Fuji wrapped in the orange light of the setting sun.   The dusk is falling from the upper sky and the far buildings and boarts also turn into the gray shadows.   Even

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