The Waterfall Urami-no-Taki from the series Views of the Famous Sights of Japan

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Yumoto Hot Spring, Nikko from the series Views of the Famous Sights Of Japan

Japanese Color Woodblock Print

The Waterfall at Urami-no-Taki

from the series

Views of the Famous Sights of Japan

by Kobayashi Kiyochika, 1896

IHL Cat. #119

About This Print

One¹ of twenty-eight prints from the series Views of the Famous Sights of Japan (Nihon meisho zue) issued by the publisher Matsuki Heikichi in 1896 and 1897. (For additional information on this series see the article Views of the Famous Sights of Japan.)

Urami-no-Take

Source: Nikko Tourist Association website http://www.nikko-jp.org/english/shigai/urami.html
Urami no Taki translates as “view from behind falls.” It is located in the upstream of Arasawa stream, which is the branch of Daiya River. It is 45m high. Poet Basho visited Nikko in 1689 on his pilgrimage to the deep north. He made a Tanka (seventeen-syllabled verse) when he looked at this waterfall.

for a while
I hide under the waterfall
start of the Summer Retreat

shibaraku wa | taki ni komoru ya | ge no hajime

Fudou Myouou [a Japanese diety] is enshrined on the back of the waterfall, and you can visit there. However, please be careful of slippery ground.

Basho wrote of this falls: "a waterfall ... came pouring out of a hollow in the ridge into a dark green pool a hundred feet below. The rocks behind the waterfall were so carved out that we could enter behind the falls and see out from it, hence its name."

photo c. 1880-1890

recent photo

¹ Print is marked with a character that looks like a "P" at the bottom of the left column where the number of the print in the series would be placed. For further information on print numbering see the article Views of the Famous Sights of Japan.

Print Details

IHL Catalog	#119
Title or Description	The Waterfall Urami-no-Taki Urami ga taki 恵見ヶ滝
Series	Views of the Famous Sights of Japan Nihon meishō zue 日本名勝図会
Artist	Kiyochika Kobayashi (1847-1915)
Signature	Kiyochika 清親
Seal	Kiyochika 清親 [see above, although seal is unclear]
Publication Date	November 1896 (Meiji 29)
Publisher	Matsuki Heikichi [proprietor of Daikokuya Heikichi] with Daihei seal 松木平吉大平 [Marks: seal not shown; pub. ref. 029]
Impression	excellent
Colors	excellent
Condition	good - backed, slight toning, full margins
Genre	ukiyo-e; meisho-e
Miscellaneous	unread number in the series as marked in lower left margin
Format	vertical oban
H x W Paper	13 7/8 x 9 1/4 in. (35.2 x 23.5 cm)
H x W Image	13 1/4 x 8 1/2 in. (33.7 x 21.6 cm)
Literature
Collections This Print	Los Angeles County Museum of Art M.71.100.61; National Diet Library 寄別1-9-2-5

last revision:

3/9/2020