About This Print
Following their introduction in Tokyo, nishiki-e shinbun made their appearance in Ōsaka. The Ōsaka-issued prints differed from their Tokyo counterparts in being half-size (chuban rather than oban size). The Kankyo, Nishiki-e Hyakuji Shinbun was the most popular newspaper of its type in the Ōsaka area and published 190 issues from September 1875 through September 1876.1 It became a daily newspaper in June 1876, changing its format to look more like that of a newspaper, with a full page on the left devoted to text explaining the picture on the right.
1 website of Bunsei Shoin, Booksellers, Co., Ltd. https://www.bunsei.co.jp/original/published-book/nisikiesinbun/
2 Ibid.
This installation features more than 30 loans from two remarkably rich local resources, the Lavenberg Collection of Japanese Prints, and the Lee & Mary Jean Michels Collection. It was co-curated by Professors Akiko Walley (History of Art and Architecture) and Glynne Walley (East Asian Languages and Literatures) and JSMA Chief Curator Anne Rose Kitagawa. QR codes on selected labels allow visitors to access translations and explanations of the complex wordplay, imagery, and cultural context of these fascinating objects.
HASEGAWA Sadanobu II/Konobu I (二代 長谷川貞信/初代小信, 1848-1940)
Japanese; Meiji period, 1875
A Beautiful Story about a Parent and Child, No.10 of Authorized Brocade Picture News of Everything (Kankyo Nishiki-e Hyakuji Shinbun)
Ukiyo-e woodblock print in horizontal chūban format; ink and color on paper
TheLavenberg Collection of Japanese Prints, IHL.2300
This installation features more than 30 loans from two remarkably rich local resources, the Lavenberg Collection of Japanese Prints, and the Lee & Mary Jean Michels Collection. It was co-curated by Professors Akiko Walley (History of Art and Architecture) and Glynne Walley (East Asian Languages and Literatures) and JSMA Chief Curator Anne Rose Kitagawa. QR codes on selected labels allow visitors to access translations and explanations of the complex wordplay, imagery, and cultural context of these fascinating objects.
HASEGAWA Sadanobu II/Konobu I (二代 長谷川貞信/初代小信, 1848-1940)
Japanese; Meiji period, 1875
A Beautiful Story about a Parent and Child, No.10 of Authorized Brocade Picture News of Everything (Kankyo Nishiki-e Hyakuji Shinbun)
Ukiyo-e woodblock print in horizontal chūban format; ink and color on paper
TheLavenberg Collection of Japanese Prints, IHL.2300
Translationof text on print:
In Heiemon-chō, Asakusa, Tokyo, one Shibamura Kyūzō, a water-carrier bytrade, had three children, including his heir Kyūtarō, ten, and two daughters.They were poor but the parents doted on their children and could not choose afavorite. Then came the smallpox and they lost one of their daughters. Kyūzōlost heart under the hardship of having his child plucked from him like acherry blossom in a harsh wind, leaving neither flower nor seed behind. Hedrowned his desperation in drink; he drank more by the day, becomingincreasingly deranged under the influence of sake. He fell down the well, jumped from the second story, andended up losing the use of his legs. His wife remonstrated with him, but to noavail, and so she left the children to care for their father while she took herman’s place to carry water from place to place. Working in this way she ensuredtheir survival in destitution. The children exerted themselves mightily fortheir father’s sake, and when their mother came home she would give them supper,pained by her children’s sufferings. When rumors of their circumstances – achaste woman and her filial children banding together to carry on the familytrade – eventually make their way to the higher-ups, they are bound to praisethem, according to the Hōchi Shinbun[News Dispatch].
(GlynneWalley, Associate Professor of East Asian Languages & Literatures)
Print Details
| IHL Catalog | #2300 | ||
| Title or Description | A Beautiful Story About a Parent and Child, number 10 Mizukumi to sei no oyako bidan 水汲渡世の親子美談 第十号 | ||
| Newspaper | Officially Authorized, Brocade Picture News of Everything Kankyo, Nishiki-e Hyakuji Shinbun 官許 錦画百事新聞 | ||
| Artist | Hasegawa Sadanobu II (1848-1940) | ||
| Signature |  | ||
| Seal | not sealed | ||
| Writer of Text | unread | ||
| Publication Date | 1875 | ||
| Publisher | Maeda Takehachirō [sometimes read Maeda Buhachirō] 前田武八郎 [Marks: pub. ref. 288; seal ref. 25-387]
| ||
| Carver | unknown - no carver's mark or name on print | ||
| Printer | |||
| Impression | excellent | ||
| Colors | excellent | ||
| Condition | good - not backed; minor soiling mainly in margins; several small insect holes | ||
| Genre | ukiyo-e; nishiki-e shinbun | ||
| Miscellaneous | |||
| Format | vertical chuban | ||
| H x W Paper | 7 3/16 x 9 15/16 in. (18.31 x 25.2 cm) | ||
| H x W Image | 6 11/16 x 9 1/2 in. (17 x 24.1 cm) | ||
| Literature | |||
| Collections This Print | Ritsumeikan University, Art Research Center Ukiyo-e Portal Database AcNo.MSZB07-04-150_00001(13150); Waseda University Library 文庫10 07354 (included in a bound edition of prints) |
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