About This Print

This print published in 1929 as part of the series Shin Tokyo Hyakkei (One Hundred Views of New Tokyo) is likely a first edition, although the artist's seal and the position of the print's title (verso on the margin) differ from the print in the Carnegie Museum of Art.  (See image below.)

Source: "Shin Tokyo Hyakkei: The Eastern Capital Revisited by the Modern Print Artists," James B. Austin, appearing in Ukiyo-e Art A Journal of the Japan Ukiyo-e Society, No. 14, 1966.
Hiratsuka was asked to make the first print [of the Shin Tokyo Hyakkei series] which was to be, as one might expect, Nihonbashi, for centuries the central point of the city from which all distances were measured.

52. NIHONBASHI (H; 240x180; 0.12) – A fairly representational rendering of this famous bridge, which was for hundreds of years the hub of the city – and even Japan.  Red tower and wharf, right; boats, left; many reflections on the water.  The bridge is now smothered by a freeway.  The print has a black border, the only Hiratsuka print in this series to have one.  Sealed with character “Un” reserved on brown, upper left corner, April 25, 1929.

The Series One Hundred Views of New Tokyo (Shin Tokyo hyakkei)

In 1929 Hiratsuka, along with seven other artists and the publisher Nakajima Jutaro, undertook the creation of the series Shin Tokyo hayakkei (One Hundred Views of Tokyo).  The series goal was to depict the modern city of Tokyo that arose after the devastating 1923 earthquake.  For more information on this series see Shin Tokyo Hyakkei - One Hundred Views of New Tokyo.

Print Details

IHL Catalog	#392
Title	Nihonbashi
Series	One Hundred Views of Tokyo (Shin Tokyo hyakkei)
Artist	Hiratsuka Un'ichi (1895-1997)
Signature	"Un" printed in lower right corner
Seal	"Hira" circular red seal in lower right of image
Date	originally February 3, 1929 in the series One Hundred Views of New Tokyo (ShinTokyo hyakkei).
Edition
Publisher	The prints were published by the Takujo group through Nakajima Jutaro of the publishing firm called Nihon Sosaku Hanga Club.
Printer
Impression	excellent
Colors	excellent
Condition	good - minor wrinkling; tape remnants from prior folio mounting; small missing edge on right margin where removed from folio; tape remnants from previous re-mounting top corners; printers marks in margins
Genre	sosaku hanga (creative print)
Miscellaneous
Format	chuban
H x W Paper	8 x 10 5/8 in. (20.3 x 27 cm)
H x W Image	7 1/8 x 9 1/2 in. (11.1 x 24.1 cm)
Collections This Print	Carnegie Museum of Art 89.28.206.1; Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo
Reference Literature	Modern Japanese Prints: The Twentieth Century, Amanda T. Zehnder, Carnegie Museum of Art, 2009, p. 47; Hanga ni miru Tokyo no fukei; Kanto daishinsai kara senzen made, Ota Kuritsu Kyodo Hakubutsukan, 2002, pl. 162, p.41.