Utagawa Hiroshige: Seeing Landscapes Through His Eyes

By Mika Abe

In the late Edo period, when society was maturing and Japan was moving to open its doors to the outside world, landscapes were undergoing major changes. Many world-famous ukiyo-e painters were active during this period, among them Utagawa Hiroshige. Hiroshige left us not only his ukiyo-e paintings but also his words. This book explores Hiroshige' s views of the landscape through his ukiyo-e work Ehon Edo Miyage (Edo Souvenirs), published from 1850 to 1867, while placing considerable emphasis on the analysis of Hiroshige' s text, which is often neglected by art historians. Why did Hiroshige depict ordinary scenes featuring common people, not only famous tourist places, in his ukiyo-e? What was it that Hiroshige wanted to convey through his picture book? His work explores not only the bright life of Edo, but also the reality of the surrounding scenery, which was rapidly transforming in the midst of social change. This book allows us to see the landscape of the time through Hiroshige' s eyes and to experience his connection to scenery.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trans Pacific Press
• Release date: Jun 30, 2023
• ISBN: 9781920850043

Book preview

Figures

0.1Tōdai Zensei Edo Kōmei Saiken (當代全盛江戸高名細見), Kaei 6 (1853)

0.2The third Toyokuni Utagawa, Utagawa Hiroshige Shini-e (歌川広重 死絵), Ansei 5 (1858)

0.3Hiroshige Utagawa, Sekiguchi Jōsuibata Bashōan Tsubakiyama (関口上水端芭蕉庵椿山), from Ehon Edo Miyage

1.1Digital altitude topography of the Tokyo metropolitan area

1.2Bushū Toshimakōri Edo (shō) zu (武州豊嶋郡江戸（庄）図), around Kan’ei 9 (1632)

1.3Hiroshige Utagawa, Sujichigai Yatsukōji (筋違い八ツ小路), from Meisho Edo Hyakkei (名所江戸百景 One Hundred Famous Views of Edo), Ansei 4–5 (1856–1858)

1.4Hiroshige Utagawa, Ōtenmachō Momendana (大てんま町木綿店), from Meisho Edo Hyakkei (名所江戸百景), Ansei 4–5 (1856–1858)

1.5Oedo Ezu (御江戸絵図), Ansei 6 (1859), International Research Center for Japanese Studies

1.6Table of Edo specialties, from Oedo Ezu

1.7Kidai Shōran (熈代勝覧) (Part), Staatliche Museum zu Berlin

1.8Kidai Shōran (熈代勝覧) (Part), Staatliche Museum zu Berlin

1.9Hokusai Katsushika, Nagasakiya no zu, from Ehon Azuma Asobi (画本東都遊 長崎屋図), Kyōwa 2 (1802), National Diet Library, Japan

1.10Keisai Kuwagata, Kinsei Shokunin-zukushi E Kotoba (近世職人尽絵詞), Middle volume, Bunka 2 (1805), National Diet Library, Japan

1.11Takeshirō Matsuura, Ezo Manga (蝦夷漫画), Ansei 6 (1859), Sapporo Central City Library

1.12Gesshin Saitō, Tōtosaijiki (東都歳事記), Tenpō (1838), National Diet Library, Japan

1.13Sanchō Oka, Settan Hasegawa, Edo Meisho Hana Goyomi (江戸名所花暦), Bunsei 10 (1827), National Diet Library, Japan

1.14Hiroshige Utagawa, Kamata no Umezono (蒲田の梅園), from Meisho Edo Hyakkei (名所江戸百景), Ansei 4–5 (1856–1858)

1.15Hiroshige Utagawa, Horikiri no Hanashōbu (堀切の花菖蒲), from Meisho Edo Hyakkei (名所江戸百景), Ansei 4–5 (1856–1858)

1.16Hiroshige Utagawa, Yoshiwara Nihondzutsumi (よし原日本堤), from Meisho Edo Hyakkei (名所江戸百景), Ansei 4–5 (1856–1858)

1.17Hiroshige Utagawa, Saruwaka-chō yoru no kei (猿わか町よるの景), from Meisho Edo Hyakkei (名所江戸百景), Ansei 4–5 (1856–1858)

1.18Hiroshige Utagawa, Seki (東海道五拾三次 関), from Tōkaidō Gojūsantsugi, Tenpō 4–7 (1833–1836)

1.19Hiroshige Utagawa, Akasaka (赤坂), from Tōkaidō Gojūsantsugi (東海道五拾三次), Tenpō 4–7 (1833–1836)

1.20Hiroshige Utagawa, Fujieda (藤枝), from Tōkaidō Gojūsantsugi (東海道五拾三次), Tenpō 4–7 (1833–1836)

1.21Dōin Ochikochi, Hishikawa Moronobu, Tōkaidō Bunken Ezu (東海道分間絵図), Genroku 3 (1690), National Diet Library, Japan

1.22(1) and 1.22(2)Chū Tō, Zōho Nikkō dōchū kōtei ki (増補日光道中行程記), An’ei 5 (1776), Doshisha University Library

1.23(1) and 1.23(2)Roan Yasumi, Ryokō Yōjin-shū (旅行用心集), Bunka 7 (1810)

1.24(1), 1.24(2), 1.24(3) and 1.24(4)Ritō Akisato (illustrations: Ōkyo Maruyama, Keisai Kuwagata), Tōkaidō Meisho Zue (東海道名所図会), Kansei 9 (1797), Doshisha University Library

1.25Igirisujin-no-zu (英吉利人之圖), around Ansei 5 (1858)

2.1Harunobu Suzuki, Uchū Bijin (雨中美人), Meiwa 2 (1765), Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

2.2Utamaro Kitagawa, Fujin Sōgaku Jittai Poppin Wo Fuku Onna (婦人相学十躰 ポッピンを吹く娘), around Kansei 4–5 (1792–1793)

2.3Toyoharu Utagawa, Uki-e wakoku no keiseki Kyoto Sanjū sangen dō no zu (浮繪和國景跡京都三拾三軒堂之圖), An’ei 1 (1772)

2.4Kōkan Shiba, Mimeguri No Kei (三囲景), Meiwa 3 (1783), Kobe City Museum

2.5Hiroshige Utagawa, Yoroi no watashi Koami-chō (鎧の渡し小網町), from Meisho Edo Hyakkei (名所江戸百景), Ansei 4–5 (1856–1858)

2.6Hiroshige Utagawa, Suruga-chō (するがてふ), from Meisho Edo Hyakkei (名所江戸百景), Ansei 4–5 (1856–1858)

2.7Hiroshige Utagawa, Nihonbashi Yukibare (日本橋雪晴), from Meisho Edo Hyakkei (名所江戸百景), Ansei 4–5 (1856–1858)

3.1Hiroshige Utagawa, Okazaki (岡崎), from Tōkaidō Gojūsantsugi (東海道五拾三次), around Tenpō 4–7 (1833–1836)

3.2Hiroshige Utagawa, Sakanoshita (阪之下), from Tōkaidō Gojūsantsugi (東海道五拾三次), around Tenpō 4–7 (1833–1836)

3.3Hiroshige Utagawa, Minakuchi (水口), from Tōkaidō Gojūsantsugi (東海道五拾三次), around Tenpō 4–7 (1833–1836)

3.4Hiroshige Utagawa, Fukuroi (袋井), from Tōkaidō Gojūsantsugi (東海道五拾三次), around Tenpō 4–7 (1833–1836)

3.5Hiroshige Utagawa, Sumida-gawa Suijin no mori Masaki (隅田川水神の森真さき), from Meisho Edo Hyakkei (名所江戸百景), Ansei 3–5 (1856–1858)

5.1Depictions of an entire shrine / Buddhist temple (Hori no uchi Myōhō-ji [堀之内妙法寺] from Edo Meisho Zue [江戸名所図会]), National Diet Library

5.2Depictions of only a part of an entire shrine / Buddhist temple (Hori no uchi Myōhō-ji [堀之内妙法寺] from Ehon Edo Miyage [絵本江戸土産]), The Metropolitan Museum of Art

5.3Depictions of things other than a shrine / Buddhist temple (Yamabuki no sato Sugata mi-bashi [山吹の里姿見橋] from Ehon Edo Miyage [絵本江戸土産]), The Metropolitan Museum of Art

5.4Scenery depictions with continuity (Ōi no hara [大井の原] from Ehon Edo Miyage [絵本江戸土産]), The Metropolitan Museum of Art

5.5Illustrations with clouds or mist in between the depicted objects (Yatsumi-bashi no kei Sono ni [八ツ見橋の景 其二] from Ehon Edo Miyage [絵本江戸土産]), The Metropolitan Museum of Art

7.1Places depicted in Ehon Edo Miyage

7.2Focal points used to evaluate scenery in places that appear in Ehon Edo Miyage

7.3Places with description other than about origins/locations in Edo Meisho Zue

7.4Focal points that are used to evaluate scenery in places that appear in Edo Meisho Zue

7.5Yushima Tenmangū (湯島天満宮), from Edo Meisho Zue (江戸名所図会), National Diet Library

7.6Yushima Tenjin Secchū no zu (湯島天神雪中之圖), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), The Metropolitan Museum of Art

7.7Tsunohazumura Kumano Jūnisho-gongensha (角筈村熊野十二所権現社), from Edo Meisho Zue (江戸名所図会), National Diet Library

7.8Tsunohazu Kumano Jūnisha-gongen (角筈熊野十二社権現), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), The Metropolitan Museum of Art

7.9Eitaibashi (永代橋), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), The Metropolitan Museum of Art

7.10Eitaibashi (永代橋), from Edo Meisho Zue (江戸名所図会), National Diet Library

8.1Kihaku, San Shoku Kō Emaki (蚕織耕絵巻), National Museum of Japanese History

8.2Sansetsu Kanō, Shiki Kōsaku-zu Byōbu (四季耕作図屏風), Tokyo University of the Arts

8.3Hiroshige Utagawa, Hōki ōno ōyama Enbō (伯耆 大野 大山遠望), from Rokujūyoshū Meisho Zue (六十余州名所図会), Kaei 6–Ansei 3 (1853–1856)

9.1Hiroshige Utagawa, Kinryūzan Okuyama Uratanbo (金龍山奥山裏田圃), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 6, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9.2Hiroshige Utagawa, Koume no Tsutsumi (小梅の堤), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 7, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9.3Hiroshige Utagawa, Yotsugi Dōri Hikifune Michi (四ツ木通引舟道), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 7, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9.4Kasai Suji Gojō Ezu (葛西筋御場絵図), Bunka 2 (1805)

9.5Hiroshige Utagawa, Furukawa Sagamidonobashi Hirō no Hara (麻布古川相模殿橋広尾之原), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 7, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9.6Hiroshige Utagawa, Dōkanyama (道灌山), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 4, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9.7Hiroshige Utagawa, Nippori Suwa no dai (日暮里諏訪の䑓), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 4, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9.8Hiroshige Utagawa, Fujimi Chaya (冨士見茶屋), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 3, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9.9Hiroshige Utagawa, Dōsho Shin-Fuji Sanjyō no Chōbō (同所 新富士山上眺望), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 7, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9.10Hiroshige Utagawa, Dō So no San Jiji ga Chaya (同其三 爺々ヶ茶屋), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 7, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9.11Hiroshige Utagawa, Dōsho Saka Ue Chōbō (同所 坂上眺望), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 5, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9.12Hiroshige Utagawa, Kamata no Umezono (蒲田の梅園), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 2, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9.13Hiroshige Utagawa, Horikiri no Sato Hana Shōbu (堀切の里花菖蒲), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 7, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9.14Hiroshige Utagawa, Oshiage Hagidera (押上萩寺), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 1, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9.15Hiroshige Utagawa, Aoigaoka Tameike (葵が岡溜池), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 3, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9.16Hiroshige Utagawa, Aoyama Shin-Nippori (青山新日暮里), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 3, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9.17Hiroshige Utagawa, Meguro Chiyogaike (目黒千代ヶ池), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 7, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9.18Hiroshige Utagawa, Sono San dō Taikobashi Yūhi no Oka (其三 同太鼓橋夕日の岡), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 7, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9.19Hiroshige Utagawa, Onagi-gawa Gohon Matsu (小奈木川 五本松), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 1, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9.20Hiroshige Utagawa, Sono Ni Koganeibashi Hanami (其二 小金橋花見), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 4, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9.21Hiroshige Utagawa, Sono Ni (其二), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 4, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9.22Hiroshige Utagawa, Sono Ni Shōka (其二 娼家), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 6, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9.23Hiroshige Utagawa, Saruwaka-chō (猿若町), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 6, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9.24Hiroshige Utagawa, Kinryūzan Kan’non dō Okuyama (金龍山観音堂奥山), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 6, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9.25Hiroshige Utagawa, Sono san Kaminarimon (其三 雷神門), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 6, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9.26Hiroshige Utagawa, Ōji Inari no yashiro (王子稲荷社), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 4, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9.27Hiroshige Utagawa, Suruga-chō (駿河町), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 5, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9.28Hiroshige Utagawa, Ryōgoku Yanagi-bashi Ryōri ya Kaiseki (両国柳橋料理屋会席), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 6, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9.29Hiroshige Utagawa, Ōji Ryōri-ya Kawabe no Enseki (王子料理屋河部の宴席), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 4, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9.30Hiroshige Utagawa, Yanagihara Kashi dōri (柳原河岸通), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 6, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9.31Hiroshige Utagawa, Nihonbashi (日本橋), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 5, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9.32Hiroshige Utagawa, Edobashi Koamichō (江戸橋 小網町), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 6, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9.33Hiroshige Utagawa, Yotsuya Ōkido Naitō-Shinjuku (四ツ谷大木戸内藤新宿), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 4, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9.34Hiroshige Utagawa, Yoroi no watashi (鎧の渡), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 6, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9.35Hiroshige Utagawa, Oumaya gashi Komagata-dō Kinryū-zan Enbō (御厩河岸 駒形堂 金龍山遠望), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 1, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9.36Hiroshige Utagawa, Sumida dzutsumi Hanazakari (隅田堤 花盛), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 1, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9.37Hiroshige Utagawa, Shibaura (芝浦), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 2, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9.38Hiroshige Utagawa, Gotenyama no Hanazakari (御殿山の花盛), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 2, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9.39Hiroshige Utagawa, Atago Gongen (愛宕権現), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 3, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9.40Hiroshige Utagawa, Ōi no Hara (大井の原), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 7, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9.41Hiroshige Utagawa, Negishi no Sato (根岸の里), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 5, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9.42Hiroshige Utagawa, Fukagawa Kiba (深川木場), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 2, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9.43Hiroshige Utagawa, Kyōbashi Takegashi (京橋竹川岸), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 6, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9.44Hiroshige Utagawa, Akasaka Kiribatake Nagata Baba Sannō yashiro (赤坂桐畑永田馬場山王社), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 3, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9.45Hiroshige Utagawa, Gotenyama no Hanazakari (御殿山の花盛), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 2, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9.46Hiroshige Utagawa, Sono ni (其二), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 2, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9.47Hiroshige Utagawa, Saishutsu Gotenyama Tōji no Sama (再出 御殿山當時のさま), from Ehon Edo Miyage (絵本江戸土産), vol. 7, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

10.1The distribution of places depicted in Meisho Edo Hyakkei

10.2Hiroshige Utagawa, Nippori Suwa no dai (日暮里諏訪の䑓), from Meisho Edo Hyakkei (名所江戸百景)

10.3Hiroshige Utagawa, Asukayama Kita no Chōbō (飛鳥山眺望), from Meisho Edo Hyakkei (名所江戸百景)

10.4Hiroshige Utagawa, Meguro Shinfuji (目黒新富士), from Meisho Edo Hyakkei (名所江戸百景)

10.5Hiroshige Utagawa, Meguro Jiji ga Chaya (目黒爺々ヶ茶屋), from Meisho Edo Hyakkei (名所江戸百景)

10.6Hiroshige Utagawa, Yotsugi-dōri Yōsui Hikifune (四ツ木通用水引きふね), from Meisho Edo Hyakkei (名所江戸百景)

10.7Hiroshige Utagawa, Koume dzutsumi (小梅堤), from Meisho Edo Hyakkei (名所江戸百景)

10.8Hiroshige Utagawa, Hirō Furukawa (広尾ふる川), from Meisho Edo Hyakkei (名所江戸百景)

10.9Hiroshige Utagawa, Yushima Tenjin Sakaue Chōbō (湯しま天神坂上眺望), from Meisho Edo Hyakkei (名所江戸百景)

10.10Hiroshige Utagawa, Kamata no Ume-zono (蒲田の梅園), from Meisho Edo Hyakkei (名所江戸百景)

10.11Hiroshige Utagawa, Meguro Chiyo ga ike (目黒千代が池), from Meisho Edo Hyakkei (名所江戸百景)

10.12Hiroshige Utagawa, Onagi-gawa Gohonmatsu (小名木川五本まつ), from Meisho Edo Hyakkei (名所江戸百景)

10.13Hiroshige Utagawa, Tamagawa-dzutsumi no Hana (玉川堤の花), from Meisho Edo Hyakkei (名所江戸百景)

10.14Hiroshige Utagawa, Saruwaka-chō yoru no kei (猿若町よるの景), from Meisho Edo Hyakkei (名所江戸百景)

10.15Hiroshige Utagawa, Suruga-chō (するがてふ), from Meisho Edo Hyakkei (名所江戸百景)

10.16Hiroshige Utagawa, Nihonbashi Edobashi (日本橋江戸ばし), from Meisho Edo Hyakkei (名所江戸百景)

10.17Hiroshige Utagawa, Yotsuya Naitō Shinjuku (四ツ谷内等新宿), from Meisho Edo Hyakkei (名所江戸百景)

10.18Hiroshige Utagawa, Yoroi no watashi Koamichō (鎧の渡し小網町), from Meisho Edo Hyakkei (名所江戸百景)

10.19Hiroshige Utagawa, Azumabashi Kinryūzan Enbō (吾妻橋金龍山遠望), from Meisho Edo Hyakkei (名所江戸百景)

10.20Hiroshige Utagawa, Sumidagawa Suijin no Mori Masaki (隅田川水神の森真崎), from Meisho Edo Hyakkei (名所江戸百景)

10.21Hiroshige Utagawa, Shibaura no Fūkei (芝うらの風景), from Meisho Edo Hyakkei (名所江戸百景)

10.22Hiroshige Utagawa, Shiba Atagoyama (芝愛宕山), from Meisho Edo Hyakkei (名所江戸百景)

10.23Hiroshige Utagawa, Kyōbashi Takegashi (京橋竹がし), from Meisho Edo Hyakkei (名所江戸百景)

10.24Hiroshige Utagawa, Fukagawa Kiba (深川木場), from Meisho Edo Hyakkei (名所江戸百景)

10.25Hiroshige Utagawa, Akasaka Kiribatake (赤坂桐畑), from Meisho Edo Hyakkei (名所江戸百景)

10.26Hiroshige Utagawa, Shinagawa Gotenyama (品川御殿やま), from Meisho Edo Hyakkei (名所江戸百景)

10.27Hokusai Katsushika, Onda no Suisha (隠田の水車), from Fugaku Sunjū Rokkei (富嶽三十六景)

10.28Hokusai Katsushika, Sunshū Katakura Chaen no Fuji (駿州片倉茶園ノ不二), from Fugaku Sunjū Rokkei (富嶽三十六景)

10.29Hokusai Katsushika, Hōsaku no Fuji (豊作の不二), from Fugaku Hyakkei (富嶽百景), Art Research Center, Ritsumeikan University

10.30Hiroshige Utagawa, Horie Nekozane (堀江ねこざね), from Meisho Edo Hyakkei (名所江戸百景)

10.31Ryōsen Chasen Shōmon Hikae (猟船茶船證文控), Kansei 11 (1799), Funabashi City West Library

10.32Ansei 5 Kasai Yōsui Suirono Kozu (安政五年調 葛西用水々路の古図), Funabashi City West Library

Tables

4.1Illustrated books by Hiroshige Utagawa

5.1Guidebooks about Edo and their stages

5.2Titles of pages in Ehon Edo Miyage

5.3Pattern of composition of illustrations in Miyage and Zue

6.1Contents that include fūkei and its synonyms in Ehon Edo Miyage

7.1Presence or absence of the explanations of origins (history) and locations in Ehon Edo Miyage and Edo Meisho Zue

7.2Evaluation focal points and example passages in Ehon Edo Miyage

7.3The numbers of focal points and the rate in Miyage and Zue

7.4Overlap between Ehon Edo Miyage and Edo Meisho Zue

7.5Representation of cultivated lands in Ehon Edo Miyage

7.6Representation of cultivated lands in Edo Meisho Zue

8.1Explanations about cultivated lands in Yūreki Zakki

8.2Representation of cultivated lands in Ehon Edo Miyage

10.1Composition style of Ehon Edo Miyage, Edo Meisho Zue and Meisho Edo Hyakkei

10.2The overlap between Ehon Edo Miyage and Meisho Edo Hyakkei

Preface and Acknowledgements

As a ten-year-old girl, I used my pocket money to buy a copy of Hara from Hiroshige’s The Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaidō. My version was replicated by photoscan and LaserJet rather than woodblock. I pinned it above my study desk, where I could gaze at it. I was attracted to the expressions and appearance of the people, as well as the atmosphere of the scene. Ten years later, I again sat with The Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaidō, this time laid on my desk as the subject of my undergraduate dissertation.

Upon entering graduate school, I decided upon Ehon Edo Miyage as the main theme of my doctoral studies. I was fortunate to work with an original, printed by woodblock during Hiroshige’s lifetime and now held by Kyoto University Library. When I first turned the pages of this Miyage, I felt the book telling me that there is something to be discovered here. This certainty stayed with me through those years of study.

The original title of this book was Utagawa Hiroshige no koe wo kiku (Listening to Hiroshige’s voice), in reference to the book’s use of Hiroshige’s words and also to the calling I first felt in Kyoto University. The Japanese version of this book was published ten years after I first encountered Miyage. The purpose of this work is to situate my analysis behind Hiroshige’s perception of landscape, using it as a lens to view his later works. I hope that this book is able to communicate Hiroshige’s landscape perspective and its significance both for studies of Hiroshige and for contemporary life, so that readers of the English translation might come closer to seeing through Hiroshige’s eyes.

As with any project of such length, this book could not have come to fruition without the support of many people. I would like to acknowledge numerous facilities and people that helped me complete this book.

I thank my former teachers who have supported me. Professor Noboru Ogata of Kyoto University provided the research environment ideal for studying Miyage. If it were not for him, this book would not have been completed. Professor Yasuo Kojima supported me throughout my doctoral studies and also provided sage advice on the importance of work-life balance. Makoto Yamada, professor emeritus of Kyoto University, provided advice from the time of my application to Kyoto University, and continues to provide encouragement from time to time even after his retirement. I am grateful to the professors affiliated with my research group, and to my fellow students whose discussion in seminars broadened the scope of my studies and deepened my knowledge. I am also grateful to Professor Hideaki Uehara who saw merit in the unprecedented theme of ukiyo-e in doctoral studies in historical geography and supported my study for many years. It is with great sorrow that this book can no longer sit on the bookshelf of Prof. Uehara.

The Japanese version of this book was published thanks to the 2017 University of Kyoto President Young Researcher Publication Grant for Humanities and Social Studies, for which I am deeply grateful to the University of Kyoto.

I appreciate the great help of my associates in publishing my book in English. Haruko Okada at Grinnell College assisted with the steady-going process of the first translation. I hope the experience of being involved with this translation contributes to her bright future. Sam Bamkin is my long-time friend, and we have had many cultural exchanges in Britain and Japan. Without his collaboration, this book would not have been brought into the world. I thank him from the bottom of my heart. Ms. Miriam Riley, structural editor for Trans Pacific Press, supported the proofreading very accurately and with perseverance. I appreciate her and the members of TPP who made every effort to publish this book. Mr. Tetsuya Suzuki, Editor-in-Chief at Kyoto University Press, has an extensive understanding of this book both in Japanese and English. He and the members of Kyoto University Press have consistently handled the creation of my book comprehensively and very appropriately. I am deeply grateful to them for their consistently helpful assistance. Further, I received a Grant-in-Aid for Publication of Scientific Research Results from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (Grant Number: 22HP5177).

Lastly, I am deeply grateful for my family, whose support is with me through every step. I hope that splendid scenery will spread out before the eyes of my first child, who was born safely while the Japanese version of this book was being written, and now always gives me love sincerely, talking about many things.

Mika Abe,

November, 2022

What can be learned from Hiroshige’s landscape perspective?

Landscapes are bound to change over time, shaping people’s lives differently in each successive generation. However, it is in times of change that nostalgia stirs, and people hang on to the landscapes built during their upbringing and through their lives. The present day, where shifts in the sands of time are almost palpable, is also a time of rapid modernization. People grasp for points of reference in the scenery that is fading away. In this way, the Edo period and our own are similar. Looking back to the Edo period provides a window for reflection on what landscape is, an abstract question that is fully relevant to present-day life. This book searches for the meaning of landscape through the eyes of an artist and master of landscape painting who lived, worked and wrote at that time, historical but close to our own.

This is not the first study on the scenery of Edo. In particular, there has been great scholarship on landscape, in the form of ukiyo-e prints, in the Edo period.¹ The topic attracts a timeless interest, inexplicably connected to the maturation of Japanese culture.² This book draws on these previous studies, acutely aware of the enduring interest in Japanese culture as it stood to face a new age of rampant modernization. However, of greater interest here are the lessons of this reflection on landscape for our current uncertain world. The Edo period followed one of protracted civil war, yet the first years of Edo saw a period of frenetic construction, political upheaval and social change, even as the arts in general, and print culture in particular, flourished in the world’s most populous city. The Edo period rushed in fits and starts toward modernity through a maturation in the arts and civic life and through the popularization of culture both old and new. It is at these times that people are torn between the old and the new. There were some who produced art in homage to the Edo period during the following Meiji period.³ Those in the Heisei period, which has now just passed, may have looked back to the Shōwa period. For most, this nostalgia may not bite until the object of desire has faded far into the distance. The nostalgia is not for artistic artefacts, but for their very foundation, the culture that generates artefacts. As such, the study of Edo landscape is crucial to find the essence of the beauty of art and in the past, and also to interpret our present. This is the starting point of a long walk through Edo with Hiroshige Utagawa—artist, visionary and landscape master. This journey is an effort to see through his eyes, to find a new perspective on the landscape.

Figure 0.1 Tōdai Zensei Edo Kōmei Saiken (當代全盛江戸高名細見), Kaei 6 (1853), Tokyo Metropolitan City Library

The impression of Hiroshige’s landscapes, and a step beyond them

This book seeks to paint a picture of Hiroshige Utagawa’s particular perspective on landscape, a man widely known as a master of ukiyo-e landscape art during the late Edo period, but also as a landscape visionary who carved the tides of change into popular woodblocks inspired by the lives and work of the people of the great metropolis of Edo.

Hiroshige enjoyed great popularity during his own lifetime. The Kaei-era publication Edo Sunago Saisenki contains the Tōdai Zensei Edo Kōmei Saiken ranking of twenty-six artists active in ukiyo-e, painting in genres such as portrayals of kabuki actors, depictions of courtesans, etc. (Figure 0.1). Third on the list, Hiroshige is recorded as the definitive master of landscape prints.

Ukiyo-e prints are not commissioned by patrons, but mass produced and sold. Thus, the interest is broad and success measured by sales. The costs of production needed to be balanced by the popular demand that drives income. Success was found in mass sales. The reason for the popularity of Hiroshige’s prints can only be explained by the impression of what they communicated to the common people who consumed them. His works and their sales reflect prevalent tastes amongst those close to the ukiyo-e world, coupled with his outstanding artistic technical skill.

During the explosion of commercial print, publications such as ukiyo-e prints informed public opinion and built a shared understanding of distant places across Japan. As such, the landscape of Japan became mediated in the cognition of people across a vast geographical range.

Yoshio Nakamura describes this shared understanding of landscape as collective representation.⁴ Minoru Senda sees this as an instance of Jungian social landscapes.⁵ Though pertaining to the visual, the meaning is deeper. It underpins a collective consciousness and builds a common perception amongst people.

Figure 0.2 The third Toyokuni Utagawa, Utagawa Hiroshige Shini-e (歌川広重死絵), Ansei 5 (1858)

Hiroshige’s consciousness, too, was mediated by prior works, but was also inspired by his cultural and artistic originality, as he saw the scenes with his own eyes. This was further moderated by the imperative for sales, in response to his perception of the intended audience. This was not a passive process, but an active one in which Hiroshige imagined, or hypothesized, what customers might want, and incorporated such demands with his own conscious and unconscious perception of landscape. Investigating Hiroshige’s work thus requires a dual study. It requires the analysis of the common impression of famous landscapes at that time, as understood by Hiroshige. It also requires the consideration of Hiroshige’s particular perception of landscape— what scene he was attracted to and his reasons for its high esteem—and the value of his landscape perspective to understanding his later works, and its deeper meaning for us, living in the metropoles of late modernity, also at a time when the tides of change are palpable.

The meaning of landscape

Landscape is a contested concept. The term scenery has been defined as what humans capture subjectively with their own body, as experience. Senda suggests that scenery is the image that is reflected in the eyes, meaning it is captured by the naked eye, an organ of one’s body, and thus has a visceral, intimate relationship with the human body, but that it is also interpreted by the imagination,⁶ and thus offers windows of self-reflection. Nakamura similarly stated that scenery exists only for the ordinariness of our body and defined it as the land one perceives from where one is standing.⁷ As such, scenery may be invoked from consciousness of it. It can be recalled or imagined.

Scholars in Japan have worked to differentiate scenery