The Fitzwilliam Museum - Shono — haku-u, by Hiroshige

An image of Shôno — haku-u. Hiroshige, Utagawa (Japanese, 1797-1858). Colour print from woodblocks. Ôban, 224 x 348. Signed: Hiroshige ga. Publisher: Hôeidô (Takenouchi Magohachi). Censor’s seal: kiwame. c.1833. Ukiyo-e.
Notes: Station no. 46 from the series Tôkaidô gojûsan tsugi no uchi (Fifty-three stations of the eastern coast road) of 1833-4. Shôno is situated on the left bank of Suzuka River in Ise Province (now Mie Prefecture), but the scenery in the print is largely imaginary and Hiroshige makes no reference to the legend usually associated with Shôno (Yamato Takeru no Mikoto being turned into a swan). Instead he concentrates on the weather, with distant bamboo-groves bending under the slanting onslaught of the rain. In the foreground, palanquin-bearers struggle uphill, their passenger using his raincoat as a makeshift canopy. Villagers run for shelter, two wearing straw rain-capes (mino). Another man is hidden by his paper umbrella (bangasa) which threatens to collapse as he points it into the storm. This umbrella bears the name of the publisher (Takenouchi) and part of the series-title, parodying the appearance on such cheap, often rented, umbrellas of the trademarks (yago) of shops and inns. The term ‘white rain’ (haku-u) used in the title of the print indicates a sudden daytime shower. It is one of the numerous evocative descriptions distinguishing different types of rain in Japanese.

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Shôno — haku-u. Hiroshige, Utagawa (Japanese, 1797-1858). Colour print from woodblocks. Ôban, 224 x 348. Signed: Hiroshige ga. Publisher: Hôeidô (Takenouchi Magohachi). Censor’s seal: kiwame. c.1833. Ukiyo-e. Notes: Station no. 46 from the series Tôkaidô gojûsan tsugi no uchi (Fifty-three stations of the eastern coast road) of 1833-4. Shôno is situated on the left bank of Suzuka River in Ise Province (now Mie Prefecture), but the scenery in the print is largely imaginary and Hiroshige makes no reference to the legend usually associated with Shôno (Yamato Takeru no Mikoto being turned into a swan). Instead he concentrates on the weather, with distant bamboo-groves bending under the slanting onslaught of the rain. In the foreground, palanquin-bearers struggle uphill, their passenger using his raincoat as a makeshift canopy. Villagers run for shelter, two wearing straw rain-capes (mino). Another man is hidden by his paper umbrella (bangasa) which threatens to collapse as he points it into the storm. This umbrella bears the name of the publisher (Takenouchi) and part of the series-title, parodying the appearance on such cheap, often rented, umbrellas of the trademarks (yago) of shops and inns. The term ‘white rain’ (haku-u) used in the title of the print indicates a sudden daytime shower. It is one of the numerous evocative descriptions distinguishing different types of rain in Japanese.

Image data

Accession Number: P.3544-R
Photograph copyright © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
Aperture: f/16.0
Focal length: 80
Camera: Hasselblad H4D-31
Photographer name: Michael Jones
Image height: 660 pixels
Image width: 1023 pixels
Processed with: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.0 (Windows)
Filesize: 164.56kB
Exposure time: 1/60
ISO Speed: 100
Fnumber: 16/1
Captured: 2015:12:14 16:24:58

Key words

19th Century bangasa colour printing Fitz_PDP Hiroshige Japan Japanese male oban palanquin palanquin bearers pouring rain print rain raining rainstorm rainy Shono Takenouchi Magohachi ukiyo-e umbrellas Utagawa Hiroshige village villagers weather woodblock woodcut

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            The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025)
            "Shono — haku-u, by Hiroshige"
            Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/image/media-218459 Accessed: 2025-12-06 04:42:53

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            {{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/image/media-218459
            |title=Shono — haku-u, by Hiroshige
            |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-12-06 04:42:53|publisher=The
            University of Cambridge}}

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    <figure class="figure">
        <img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/pdp/pdp82/large_p_3544_r_201512_mfj22_dc2.jpg"
        alt="Shôno — haku-u"
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        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Shono — haku-u, by Hiroshige</figcaption>
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