Kintai Bridge from the series Miyata Saburō Collection of Woodblock Prints Scenery of Japan

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Japanese Color Woodblock Print

Kintai Bridge

from the series Miyata Saburō Collection of

Woodblock Prints Scenery of Japan

by Miyata Saburō, 1971-1984

IHL Cat. #2265

About This Print

Miyata depicts, using black ink only, 500 year old Kintai-bashi, a wooden arch bridge, below Iwakuni Castle in Yamaguchi Prefecture. This print is from an unknown volume from the artist's 240 print, 12 volume compendium Miyata Saburō Collection of Woodblock Prints Scenery of Japan.

Kintai-bashi (Kintai Bridge)

Source: website of oldtokyo.com http://www.oldtokyo.com/kintaibashi-iwakuni-c-1910/

“Kintaibashi is located [in Yamaguchi Prefecture] on the foot of Mt.Yokoyama, at the top of which lies Iwakuni Castle. After Iwakuni Castle was completed in 1608 by Kikkawa Hiroie, the first lord of Iwakuni Domain, a series of wooden bridges were built. However, most of them were destroyed by floods several times before the construction of the iconic Kintaibashi in 1673. New stone piers replaced the old wooden ones.

Though thought to be flood-proof; the bridge was destroyed by a flood the next year. As a result, the stone piers were redesigned for greater strength, and a special tax was created to maintain the bridge. This maintenance involved periodic rebuilding of the bridge: every 20 years for 3 spans in the middle, every 40 years for 2 spans connecting to the riverside.

Consequently, the bridge remained undestroyed for 276 years, until washed away again by flooding from typhoon ‘Kijia’ in 1950. It had been in a weakened state at the time, due to the fact that the Japanese had stopped maintaining the bridge during World War II, and that the year before the typhoon, a large amount of gravel was taken by the US military forces from the river around the bridge to expand the US Marine Corps Air Station in Iwakuni, strengthening the flow of the river.

In 1953, the bridge was reconstructed similarly to the original, using metal nails made from the same tatara iron as the Katana to increase its durability. Between 2001 and 2004, all five bridge girders were restored for the first time in 50 years.

About the Series "Miyata Saburō Collection of Woodblock Prints - Scenery of Japan"

Consisting of twelve volumes, each containing twenty woodblock prints depicting scenic locations around Japan, Miyata spent fourteen years from 1970 to 1984 producing the series, which he carved and printed himself in a limited edition of 100 prints each. Most, if not all, the places depicted were actually visited by the artist. Miyata followed this massive series of 240 prints with a printed compendium of the prints titled Miyata Saburō mokuhanga zenshū 宮田三郎木版画全集 (The Complete Woodblock Prints of Miyata Saburō), release in limited edition in five volumes in 1983-1984.

Print Details

IHL Catalog	#2265
Title	錦帯橋 Kintai bashi Kintai bridge
Series	Miyata Saburō Collection of Woodblock Prints Scenery of Japan 宮田三郎木版画集―日本の風景 Miyata Saburō Mokuhanga shū Nihon no fūkei
Artist	Miyata Saburō (1924-2013)
Signature	none
Seal	ミヤタサブロウ Miyata Saburō in kana with unread black superimposed character (possibly さ or "sa")
Publication Date	1971-1984
Edition	百冊限定版の内 (limited edition of 100), as stamped on the left side of the bottom margin
Publisher	the artist in conjunction with the Tokyo Print Research Institute Tokyo Hanga Kenkyūsho 東京版画研究所
Printer	self-printed
Impression	excellent
Colors	excellent
Condition	excellent - minor paper handling creases
Genre	sosaku-hanga (creative print)
Miscellaneous
Format	dai-ōban
H x W Paper	15 3/8 x 20 1/8 in. (38.7 x 51.1 cm)
H x W Image	11 5/8 x 16 in. (31.1 x 40.6 cm)
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last revision:

6/24/2021 created