About This Print
This print depicts Emperor Meiji and an entourage of court ladies on the phoenix boat viewing the cherry trees along Tokyo's Sumida River. It's unclear whether this print was commemorating an actual event that the emperor took part in the spring of 1883, or was just displaying a popular theme to sell prints. It is known, however, that in April 1883, the month before this print was published, the emperor and his entourage paid a visit to "Suziki-shinden to view the cherry blossoms, about which he later composed several haiku."11 Native and Newcomer: Making and Remaking a Japanese City, Jennifer Robertson, University of California Press, 1991, p. 176-177.
Print Details
| IHL Catalog | #2248 |
| Title or Description | Official Opening of Sumida River Cherry Blossom Sightseeing 開仕之花隅田ノ遊覧 |
| Series | |
| Artist | Yōshū Chikanobu (1838-1912) |
| Signature |  |
| Seal | none |
| Publication Date |  notification delivered May 3, 1883 (明16) |
| Publisher |  Right half: 出版人 辻岡文助 shuppanjin Tsujioka Bunsuke. right column shows publisher's address Left half: 画工 橋本直義 gakō (artist) Hashimoto Naoyoshi (Chikanobu's family name.) right column shows artist's address. [Marks: pub. ref. 548; seal not shown] |
| Carver |  彫工弥太 carver Hori Yata (Watanabe Yatarō) |
| Impression | fair |
| Colors | excellent - likely oxidation of pigment used for phoenix head on front of boat |
| Condition | good – three sheets joined together; remnants of paste where sheets are joined; small area of repair visible verso |
| Genre | ukiyo-e; |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Format | vertical oban triptych |
| H x W Paper | 14 1/8 x 28 1/2 in. (35.9 x 72.4 cm) entire triptych |
| H x W Image | 14 1/16 x 28 in. (35.7 x 71.1 cm) |
| Literature | |
| Collections This Print | |
8/4/42021
2/27/2020 created
 |  |  |  |  |