The Plum Garden at Kamata, from the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo

Japanese woodcut prints are part of an artistic genre known as ukiyo-e. The term, translated as “floating world pictures,” emphasizes the fleeting nature of the sights and experiences depicted. Affordable and avidly collected, the prints became a popular product in Japan’s mercantile economy beginning in the 17th century and especially flourished in Edo (present-day Tokyo) during the 1800s. Designed by artists and produced by publishers with teams of woodcarvers and printers, the woodcuts offer glimpses of Japanese life and popular culture. This woodcut is part of Utagawa Hiroshige’s One Hundred Famous Views of Edo. The series of scenes presents notable locations in and around the city of Edo, a thriving cultural center, urban hub, and headquarters of the Tokugawa shogunate. Hiroshige’s depictions capture a wide array of people, everyday activities, and seasonal events. He often incorporated extreme close-ups and unusual viewpoints, transforming the familiar into something distinctly creative. Hiroshige’s ukiyo-e prints, his pictures of the floating world, are full of wisdom, parody, humor, and even sensations like wind or sound. Together, they invite contemplation of the ephemeral nature of experience itself. Utagawa Hiroshige’s One Hundred Famous Views of Edo draws on the Japanese tradition of celebrating meisho, “famous places” or locations of scenic beauty, in poetry and painting. Hiroshige and his publisher took a broad approach when selecting the “famous places” in the series, which features sites of legendary or historical significance as well as city spaces known for particular goods or pastimes. Plum blossoms, a sign of early spring, attract visitors to a popular garden. On the right edge of the scene, a partially visible kago, a shoulder-carried palanquin, waits for a passenger. (Another kago appears in the street scene to the right.)