Mishima High Road in Kai Province, 1830-1833
Woodblock print (aizuri-e); ink and color on paperexpand_more
Gift of Mrs. Carl W. Jones in Memory of Her Husbandexpand_more P.13,723
Not on Viewexpand_more
One of the most memorable designs from Hokusai’s famous Fuji series
depicts Mount Fuji next to the thick trunk of a gigantic cedar tree— a
Yatate Cedar (yatate sugi) that extends far beyond the top edge of the
image. Such a composition testifies to Hokusai’s powerful imagination,
as there is no historical evidence that such a location with this view
existed. It is generally believed that this location is the Kagosaka Pass,
south of Lake Yamanaka, but no such tree is recorded to have stood
there. 25 kilometres (15.5 miles) north of Kagosaka at the Sasago Pass,
however, there is a tree that still stands today, believed to be 1,000 years
old. In volume seven of Hokusai’s Sketches (Hokusai manga), he provides
two separate images of Mount Fuji and the Sasago tree, from which
Mount Fuji is not visible. It seems that Hokusai decided to merge both in
order to create a new and powerful, albeit imagined, view of Japan’s
holy mountain for this design.
Details
- Title
- Mishima High Road in Kai Province
- Artist Life
- 1760 - 1849
- Role
- Artist
- Accession Number
- P.13,723
- Catalogue Raisonne
- Ukiyo-e shūka 16 (1981), p. 229, horizontal ōban #18.29
- Curator Approved
This record is from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator, so may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@artsmia.org.
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