22 AMAM.OBERLIN.EDU OTHER SEA COMMODITIES Apart from fish, seaweed, shellfish, and salt also were harvested in a sustainable fashion in the Edo period, by and for individual families or for commercial production. These harvests were often labor intensive, and built on centuries of accumulated knowledge. They also took advantage of natural processes such as drying by sun and wind, tidal movement, and the geographical benefits provided by wide beaches or shallow bays. Left: KitagawaUtamaro 喜多川歌麿 (Japanese, 1754–1806) Poems andShells, fromthe series Gifts of the EbbTide, ca. 1789 Color woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper, embossing, mica, metallic powder MaryA. AinsworthBequest, 1950.403 This print is a page from a deluxe illustrated volume of poems inspired by shells, an anthology of 36 poems, on 36 shells, by 36 poets. This page follows a title page that shows people collecting shells and shellfish on a beach at low tide. Here, as in the fish prints seen earlier, the “gifts of the sea” that were so central to the Edo-period urban diet are celebrated and elevated by poetry. Above: UtagawaHiroshige I 初代目歌川広重 (Japanese, 1797–1858) GatheringShellfish at LowTide at Susaki, from the first series Famous Places inEdo, 1830s Color woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper MaryA. AinsworthBequest, 1950.1113 Right: UtagawaHiroshige I 初代目歌川広重 (Japanese, 1797–1858) GatheringShellfish at LowTide on theBeach at Susaki, fromthe series Famous Places in the EasternCapital, late 1830s Color woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper MaryA. AinsworthBequest, 1950.1129 The name Susaki simply means a projecting spit of land but came to refer to one beach on Edo Bay famous as a spot for gathering shellfish in the spring. In these prints we can see men, women, and children combing the beach for clams and mussels. They were free for the taking andmade up an important part of the diet—and a commodity to sell—for Edo’s working poor. For those better off, clamdigging at Susaki was an entertaining diversion, perhaps linked to a visit to the shrine to Benten, goddess of water and prosperity, seen at the tip of the spit in the background.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTczNTM=