100 Views of Edo # 18 by Ando Hiroshige

Artist: Ando Utagawa Hiroshige (1787-1858)

Woodblock Prints Title: 100 Views of Edo # 18 - Oji Inari Shrine

1st Publication: September 1857

Size: 13-3/8 X 9 + Margins as shown

Date of this edition: September 1857

Publisher: Uoya Eikichi

Condition: Small repair in the upper margin, remnants from prior mounting, some fading and soiling. Good overall condition.

More about this print: White puffy plum blossoms blooming up from behind the teahouses below indicate that it is early spring at Ôji Inari Shrine, the devotional site of Inari, the god of the harvest.

Inari worship spread rapidly throughout the rural Kanto hinterland of Edo during the eighteenth century and later moved into the city itself. Because of its antiquity, Ôji Inari Shrine was considered the chief among all Kanto shrines to Inari.

Each year in the early spring, farmers and city-dwellers alike gathered there to pray for a good year.

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.