Toto Ommayagashi no zu, by Utagawa Kuniyoshi

An image of Tôto Ommayagashi no zu. Kuniyoshi, Utagawa (Japanese, 1798-1861). Colour print from woodblocks. Ôban, 249 x 370. Signed: Ichiyûsai Kuniyoshi ga, with toshidama seal. Publisher: Yamaguchiya Tôbei. c.1834. Ukiyo-e. Notes: From an untitled set of views of Edo published by Yamaguchiya Tôbei, this print shows a rainstorm on the banks of the Sumida River at Miyoshi-chô in Asakusa, Edo. It is typical of Kuniyoshi’s adoption of pictorial conventions from European copperplate prints, such as recession emphasised by diminishing forms in the distance, patches of shading and texture on the ground, lines of hatching in the clothes, and the grey-shaded clouds. The paper umbrella (bangasa) on the left shelters three labourers and bears the name of the Yamatoya shop or restaurant at Yanagishima. The man on the right carries a stock of extra umbrellas under his arm. He may be an umbrella vendor, who also hires umbrellas, taking advantage of the storm. His umbrella is inscribed with the rental number 1861, and also with Yamaguchiya’s publishing mark. Further umbrellas can be seen clustered in the Ommayagashi ferry boats taking passengers across the river. The man in the centre-foreground with no apparent interest in umbrellas is a fisherman, with his catch in a bucket slung over his fishing-pole.

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Tôto Ommayagashi no zu. Kuniyoshi, Utagawa (Japanese, 1798-1861). Colour print from woodblocks. Ôban, 249 x 370. Signed: Ichiyûsai Kuniyoshi ga, with toshidama seal. Publisher: Yamaguchiya Tôbei. c.1834. Ukiyo-e. Notes: From an untitled set of views of Edo published by Yamaguchiya Tôbei, this print shows a rainstorm on the banks of the Sumida River at Miyoshi-chô in Asakusa, Edo. It is typical of Kuniyoshi’s adoption of pictorial conventions from European copperplate prints, such as recession emphasised by diminishing forms in the distance, patches of shading and texture on the ground, lines of hatching in the clothes, and the grey-shaded clouds. The paper umbrella (bangasa) on the left shelters three labourers and bears the name of the Yamatoya shop or restaurant at Yanagishima. The man on the right carries a stock of extra umbrellas under his arm. He may be an umbrella vendor, who also hires umbrellas, taking advantage of the storm. His umbrella is inscribed with the rental number 1861, and also with Yamaguchiya’s publishing mark. Further umbrellas can be seen clustered in the Ommayagashi ferry boats taking passengers across the river. The man in the centre-foreground with no apparent interest in umbrellas is a fisherman, with his catch in a bucket slung over his fishing-pole.

Image data

Accession Number: P.3651-R
Photograph copyright © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
Aperture: f/16.0
Focal length: 80
Camera: Hasselblad H4D-31
Photographer name: Michael Jones
Image height: 693 pixels
Image width: 1024 pixels
Processed with: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.0 (Windows)
Filesize: 183.02kB
Exposure time: 1/60
ISO Speed: 100
Fnumber: 16/1
Captured: 2015:12:14 16:21:55

Key words

19th Century bangasa colour printing ferry fisherman Fitz_PDP Japan Japanese Kuniyoshi oban palanquin pouring rain print rain raining rainstorm rainy river riverbank riverside ukiyo-e umbrellas Utagawa Kuniyoshi village villagers weather woodblock woodcut

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            The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024)
            "Toto Ommayagashi no zu, by Utagawa Kuniyoshi"
            Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/image/media-218481 Accessed: 2024-04-27 12:57:18

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            {{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/image/media-218481
            |title=Toto Ommayagashi no zu, by Utagawa Kuniyoshi
            |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-04-27 12:57:18|publisher=The
            University of Cambridge}}

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        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Toto Ommayagashi no zu, by Utagawa Kuniyoshi</figcaption>
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