Ukiyoe-wood block printing

Mystery of famous Hiroshige’s snowy Kambara woodblock ukiyo-e painting

Did Hiroshige really draw the landscape of Kambara? 15.Kambara, the snow in the night, by Utagawa Hiroshige Kambara, the snow in the night from “Fifty-three stages on the Tokaido” series Among numberless other landscape ukiyo-e printings, the artworks of Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) receive the highest evaluation inside and outside the country. One of the most famous artworks is Kambara, […]

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Katsushika Hokusai’s original Phoenix painting in Obuse City

The painting of Phoenix that glares in all directions by Katsushika Hokusai In 1843, a great painter visited the small village Obuse in Shinshu (today’s Nagano Prefecture). The place where you can see the painting of Phoenix even today.  Hokusai and Obuse The great painter was Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849). He was 83 years old at that time.

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Plum garden ukiyo-e art woodblock print by Utagawa Hiroshige

Plum Estate, Kameido from “One Hundred Famous Views of Edo” woodblock prints     As if the blooming plum flowers gave out the fragrance for us. It is one of the ukiyo-e series of “One Hundred Famous Views of Edo” by Utagawa (Ando) Hiroshige (1797-1858).    The Plum Estate in Kameido was the vacation house of the wealthy

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Utagawa Hiroshige’s whirlpool artwork ukiyo-e woodblock print

Awa, Naruto Whirlpool from “Famous Views of the Sixty-odd Provinces” The swirling currents beat the angular rocks and splash water about. As if the whirlpool swallows up those who look the print. It is one of the representative works of Utagawa (Ando) Hiroshige (1797-1858) who was the master‐hand at the landscape paintings in the ukiyo-e world.  Hiroshige worked on

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‘The back of Fuji from the Minobu River’ print, painted by Katsushika Hokusai

46.The back of Fuji from the Minobu   The road that the travelers and horses are walking run down to the Kuonji temple, the head temple of Nichiren sect. Some of them are likely to be on their way to the temple. They are surrounded by rugged rocky mountains, and see the overlapping waves of the river on the

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Ukiyoe print ‘Lake Suwa in Shinano Province’, painted by Katsushika Hokusai

44.Lake Suwa in Shinano Province     In the first edition, it was a woodblock printing of a single indigo color. But every time running into several editions, green and light scarlet was added. Hereby the picture became an emotional landscape of the evening.   There is a rocky place where the shrine and two Japanese pine stands in

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Mount Fuji print ‘Dawn at Isawa in Kai Province’, painted by Katsushika Hokusai

43.Dawn at Isawa in Kai Province     Isawa is a place famous as a sightseeing spot of hot springs today, originally developed as a postal station on the Koshu Highway.   There are people who are preparing for the trip and about to depart from the station under the slightly reddish sky of the dawn.  

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‘Mount Fuji reflects in Lake Kawaguchi’, painted by Katsushika Hokusai

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

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Art print ‘Inume Pass, Kōshū’, painted by Katsushika Hokusai

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

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