100 Views of Edo # 70 by Ando Hiroshige

Additional Pictures:



Artist: Ando Utagawa Hiroshige (1787-1858)

Woodblock Prints Title: Nakagawa River Mouth (Nakagawaguchi), from the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei)

1st Publication: February 1857

Size: Vertical oban; 33.4 x 21.9 cm (13 1/8 x 8 5/8 in.)

Date of this edition: February 1857

Publisher: Uoya Eikichi

Condition: Mild soiling. Very thin backing.

More about this print: The two passenger boats in the lower half of this print are crossing paths on the Onagi Canal at the point where it joins the Nakagawa River, the broad stream in the center. They are passing in front of a guard station barely visible at the lower left. This checkpoint, established for military security in the early Edo period, was apparently once quite strict. By Hiroshige’s time, however, after more than two centuries of peace, the inspection procedure was a mere formality. A memory of the inspection station survives today in the Guardhouse Bridge, which spans the entrance to the Onagi Canal.

Pictures: Pictures are taken outdoor, in the shade, to reflect true colors, without any enhancements of any kind. The last picture is taken indoor, with a light behind the print, to reveal the exact paper grain, holes if any, or other possible flaws.