Object numberX.264

First Cuckoo of the year at Tsukudajima

Portfolio/Seriesfrom the series Famous Places in the Eastern Capital

Date1830-1831

Artist Utagawa Hiroshige (歌川広重) (Japanese, 1797-1858)

Publisher Kawaguchiya Shōzō (Shōeidō, Eisendō) (Japanese)

CultureJapanese

MediumWoodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper

DimensionsImage: 8 11/16 x 13 3/4 in. (22 x 35 cm)
Sheet (Horizontal ōban): 9 7/16 x 14 3/16 in. (24 x 36 cm)

Period19th c (Edo period)

Classification(s)

SignedOn recto, upper right, signed in block: 一幽斎広重画 (Ichiryūsai Hiroshige ga)

InscribedOn recto, upper right, in block: 東都名所　佃島初廓公 (Famous Places in the Eastern Capital (Tōto meisho); (First Cuckoo of the Year at Tsukudajima (Tsukudaijima hatsu hototogisu)

Vassar Exhibitions

Bunmei Kaika: Political Landscape in Early Modern and Modern Japan

Label TextUtagawa Hiroshige’s depictions of places of industry show how non-entertainment–based businesses or facilities were organized by the government. First Cuckoo of the Year at Tsukudajima (left) illustrates boats anchored near Tsukuda Island in Edo Bay at dusk. The island was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1582 when he resettled fishermen from Tsukudamura (in present-day Osaka Prefecture). The island’s main purpose was to supply the shogun with fresh seafood; the surplus was then permitted to be sold to the public. After the Great Meireki Fire in 1657 destroyed more than half of Edo, the shogunate ordered lumberyards throughout the city center to relocate to its outskirts in Fukugawa (right). In a peaceful winter scene made two centuries later, Hiroshige captures two loggers at work amid the snow. In these works, he places these sites in tranquil moments only, far-removed from the bustle of the working class. Romanticized landscapes, Hiroshige’s prints of industry reveal how the professions of the working class were elevated to become consumable products.

Terms

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