東都名所　日本橋の白雨|Sunshower at Nihonbashi

Utagawa Hiroshige

1833–34 · Woodblock print; ink and color on paper · Asian Art

In another version of one of Hiroshige's most effective compositional techniques, the view is from a bridge spanning Edo's Sumida River to another bridge. This bright, tranquil scene is an interesting contrast to the vigorous human and natural activity in Sudden Shower on the Great Bridge, shown to the right. In this horizontal composition, the bridge at Nihonbashi, the first stage of the route immortalized in his Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido, is seen as rain begins to fall. Against the still light sky are glimpsed Edo's two other great sights, the Shogun's castle at upper right, and, in the distance, Mount Fuji. As in many of Hiroshige's compositions, the viewer is brought intimately onto the scene by the cropping of the image of the bridge's span.

Artist

Utagawa Hiroshige

Date

1833–34

Medium

Woodblock print; ink and color on paper

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Rogers Fund, 1918