ALLEN MEMORIAL ART MUSEUM 15 KatsushikaHokusai 葛飾北斎 (Japanese, 1760–1849) ThePaddies of Ōno inSurugaProvince, fromthe series Thirty-sixViews ofMt. Fuji, early 1830s Color woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper MaryA. AinsworthBequest, 1950.710 In another print from Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji, the mountain floats in the distance beyond a vast rice field. In the foreground, farmers transport huge bales of reeds. The bales were lightweight, but very bulky and awkward to move. Here the farmers are lucky to have five oxen to help with this job. Draft animals were fairly rare in Japan at the time; only about 10 percent of farming households owned them. UtagawaHiroshige I 初代目歌川広重 (Japanese, 1797–1858) Tarui, no. 58 fromthe series Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaidō, late 1830s Color woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper MaryA. AinsworthBequest, 1950.907 In this print we see a rainy day at a station, or rest stop, on the Kisokaidō, the mountain route linking Edo to Kyoto. Japan is known for its frequent rainfall, and the water-repellent quality of rice straw led to one of its more creative uses. Straw rain capes called mino 蓑, often combined with a straw skirt, provided lightweight, if bulky, rain protection. At the center of the print, two figures in mino lead a procession of samurai, escorting their lord either to Edo or back to his domain. The man in front, in blue with the umbrella, is probably the village headman, showing the party to their lodging for the night. The shopkeepers and other travelers must kneel as the procession passes by. Another figure in a mino kneels at the lower right. UtagawaHiroshige I 初代目歌川広重 (Japanese, 1797–1858) Fujieda, no. 23 fromthe series The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō, also called the Reisho Tōkaidō, ca. 1850 Color woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper MaryA. AinsworthBequest, 1950.941 On a rainy day on the Tōkaidō, travelers walk on the road between two vast rice fields. In the distance is Tanaka Castle, seat of the Tanaka Domain in what is today Shizuoka Prefecture. The people cover themselves with whatever is handy: a cloak, a sedan chair, and, for the two figures on the right, a mat or cape made from rice straw. We can see rice straw stacked up to dry in the field in the foreground.
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