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Night Rain at the Azuma Shrine (from the series Eight Views of the Environs of Edo)

mid-1830s

Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川 広重

(Japanese, 1797–1858)
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
color woodblock print
Sheet: 21.6 x 34.4 cm (8 1/2 x 13 9/16 in.)
Gift of Mrs. Henry S. Upson 1942.145
Location: not on view
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Description

Here Hiroshige reinterprets the traditional Chinese poetic and artistic theme of Eight Views of Xiaoxiang, a scenic region in southeast China. Inspired by “rain at night on the Xiaoxiang,” Hiroshige instead places travelers near Azuma Jinja Shrine in an Edo (present-day Tokyo) suburb.

Synthetic blue pigment, imported from the West and wildly popular in the early 1800s, adds vibrancy to the muted landscape. Thin, ruler-straight diagonal lines of white ink evoke the driving rain.
Night Rain at the Azuma Shrine (from the series Eight Views of the Environs of Edo)

Night Rain at the Azuma Shrine (from the series Eight Views of the Environs of Edo)

mid-1830s

Utagawa Hiroshige

(Japanese, 1797–1858)
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)

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