Japan: Winter: View of the Paulownia Trees at Akasaka on a Rainy Evening (赤坂桐畑雨中夕けい (びくにはし雪中). Image 119 of '100 Famous Views of Edo'. Utagawa Hiroshige (first published 1856–59)

This image is attributed to Hiroshige II after Utagawa's death and is not always included in the series.

Hiroshige's One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (名所江戸百景), actually composed of 118 woodblock landscape and genre scenes of mid-19th century Tokyo, is one of the greatest achievements of Japanese art. The series includes many of Hiroshige's most famous prints. It represents a celebration of the style and world of Japan's finest cultural flowering at the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate.

The winter group, numbers 99 through 118, begins with a scene of Kinryūzan Temple at Akasaka, with a red-on-white color scheme that is reserved for propitious occasions. Snow immediately signals the season and is depicted with particular skill: individual snowflakes drift through the gray sky, while below, on the roof of a distant temple, dots of snow are embossed for visual effect.

Utagawa Hiroshige (歌川 広重, 1797 – October 12, 1858) was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist, and one of the last great artists in that tradition. He was also referred to as Andō Hiroshige (安藤 広重) (an irregular combination of family name and art name) and by the art name of Ichiyūsai Hiroshige (一幽斎廣重).

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Supplier: CPA Media Co. Ltd.

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Pictures From History

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100 FAMOUS VIEWS OF EDO