About This Print
The album's opening inscription by the Buddhist scholar Mochizuki Shinkō 望月信亨 (1869–1948) who became a monk of the Pure Land Sect at age twelve and would go on to become "a prolific scholar of Japanese Pure Land Buddhism whose work helped lay the foundation of modern Buddhist studies."1
The inscription is printed (printing method unknown) over a woodblock printed stylized landscape, a type of gasan.2
Overview of the Picture Album of the Thirty-Three Pilgrimage Places of the Western Provinces
On December 1923, only a few months after the Great Kantō Earthquake devastated the Tokyo area, Nakazawa Hiromitsu along with his two friends, the poet Ishikura Suiyō and the artist Akatsuka Chūichi, began their pilgrimage to the thirty-three temples comprising the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, taking seventy-eight days to complete the route. The result of their pilgrimage was Picture Album of the Thirty-Three Pilgrimage Places of the Western Provinces published by Kanao Tanejirō of the publishing house Kanao Bun'endō.
For more information on their pilgrimage see the article Nakazawa Hiromitsu - Picture Album of the Thirty-Three Pilgrimage Places of the Western Provinces.
1 "Introduction to the Special Section" by Natalie Fisk Quli appearing in Pure Land Buddhism in China: A Doctrinal History, Mochizuki Shinkō, edited by Natalie Fisk Quli and Richard K, Payne, Institute of Buddhist Studies, 2017, p. 475.
2 "gasan" 画賛 - In its broadest definition, an inscription, in poetry or prose, added to a picture, a practice that has a long tradition in China and Japan.
The Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage (Saigoku sanjūsansho junrei)
Japan's most famous pilgrimage, originating in the 11th century, encompasses 33 Buddhist temples in Western Japan (Kansai region) dedicated to Kannon (bodhisattva Avalokitasvara), the Bodhisattva of Compassion, who hears the cries of the world and assists anyone in distress.
The 33 temples on the approximately 1,000 kilometer pilgrimage route correspond to Kannon's ability to take on 33 different forms. One hundred thousand pilgrims navigate the route in its entirety or part each year.
Note: For a listing of all 33 temples go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saigoku_Kannon_Pilgrimage. To access an interactive map of the route and its temples go to https://www.thetempleguy.org/p/saigoku-33-kannon-route.html and scroll down towards the bottom of the page.
About the "Picture Album of the Thirty-Three Pilgrimage Places of the Western Provinces"
First issued in 1925 and reprinted in 1946, the 1925 album contains 58 prints and the 1946 album 59 prints. For detailed discussion of the two editions and additional information on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage see this site's article Nakazawa Hiromitsu - Picture Album of the Thirty-Three Pilgrimage Places of the Western Provinces.
click on the image to go to the article
Print Details
IHL Catalog
#2413.02 Title or Description Opening inscription printed over a stylized landscape Series Picture Album of the Thirty-Three Pilgrimage Places of the Western Provinces
西国三十三所巡礼画巻 Saigoku sanjūsansho junrei gakan Artist landscape attributed to Nakazawa Hiromitsu (1874-1964)
inscription by Mochizuki Shinkō (1869–1948) Signature no signature seen.
Inscription in the right margin reading 文学博士 望月信亨氏 - Mr. Mochizuki Shinkō, Dr. of Letters. Seal of the artist 
unread seals. Likely those of Mochizuki Shinkō 望月信亨 Publication Date September 28, 1925 大正十四年九月十八日発行 as printed on colophon appearing on the inside of the album box. (see Album Box with Print of Kannon IHL Cat. #2413). Publisher 發行者 金尾種次郎 publisher Kanao Tanejirō
發兌元 金尾文淵堂 publishing house Kanao Bun'endō
文淵堂版 Bun'endō han Carver Okada Seijirō 岡田清次郎
Note: the album's colophon (see Album Box with Print of Kannon IHL Cat. #2413) lists two carvers, the above well-known Okada Seijirō and 大倉藤太郎, possibly read Okura Tōtarō, who I can find no information on. Printer Nishimura Kumakichi 西村熊吉
Note: the album's colophon (see Album Box with Print of Kannon IHL Cat. #2413) lists three printers, the above well-known Nishmura Kumakichi; 山県秀助, possibly read Yamagata Hidesuki, who I can find no information on, and 松本兄弟堂, a company founded in Osaka by Matsumoto Kisaburō 松本喜三郎 in 1923, which I believe did the letterpress printing. Impression excellent Colors excellent Condition good - foxing and minor discoloration seen in margins; left margin and lower left of bottom margin tattered. Genre shin hanga; shasei kikō (sketch-tour) Miscellaneous
Format horizontal oban
H x W Paper
10 x 15 3/16 in. (25.4 x 38.6 cm) H x W Image
8 1/2 x 11 3/4 in. (21.6 x 29.8 cm) (area defined by red border) Literature Nakazawa Hiromitsu kenkyū: Hon karano kenshō, Hiromitsu Nakazawa, Mitsunobu Satō, et. al., Mitsui Kōkei, Tokyo, 2006, p. 46-48. Collections This Print
National Diet Library Call Number 寄別7-8-2-5 (1925 album, no images displayed); Harvard Yenching Library HOLLIS number 990082993710203941 (1925 album, no images displayed)
| IHL Catalog | #2413.02 |
| Title or Description | Opening inscription printed over a stylized landscape |
| Series | Picture Album of the Thirty-Three Pilgrimage Places of the Western Provinces 西国三十三所巡礼画巻 Saigoku sanjūsansho junrei gakan |
| Artist | landscape attributed to Nakazawa Hiromitsu (1874-1964) inscription by Mochizuki Shinkō (1869–1948) |
| Signature | no signature seen. |
| Seal of the artist | unread seals. Likely those of Mochizuki Shinkō 望月信亨 |
| Publication Date | September 28, 1925 大正十四年九月十八日発行 as printed on colophon appearing on the inside of the album box. (see Album Box with Print of Kannon IHL Cat. #2413). |
| Publisher | 發行者 金尾種次郎 publisher Kanao Tanejirō 發兌元 金尾文淵堂 publishing house Kanao Bun'endō 文淵堂版 Bun'endō han |
| Carver | Okada Seijirō 岡田清次郎 Note: the album's colophon (see Album Box with Print of Kannon IHL Cat. #2413) lists two carvers, the above well-known Okada Seijirō and 大倉藤太郎, possibly read Okura Tōtarō, who I can find no information on. |
| Printer | Nishimura Kumakichi 西村熊吉 Note: the album's colophon (see Album Box with Print of Kannon IHL Cat. #2413) lists three printers, the above well-known Nishmura Kumakichi; 山県秀助, possibly read Yamagata Hidesuki, who I can find no information on, and 松本兄弟堂, a company founded in Osaka by Matsumoto Kisaburō 松本喜三郎 in 1923, which I believe did the letterpress printing. |
| Impression | excellent |
| Colors | excellent |
| Condition | good - foxing and minor discoloration seen in margins; left margin and lower left of bottom margin tattered. |
| Genre | shin hanga; shasei kikō (sketch-tour) |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Format | horizontal oban |
| H x W Paper | 10 x 15 3/16 in. (25.4 x 38.6 cm) |
| H x W Image | 8 1/2 x 11 3/4 in. (21.6 x 29.8 cm) (area defined by red border) |
| Literature | Nakazawa Hiromitsu kenkyū: Hon karano kenshō, Hiromitsu Nakazawa, Mitsunobu Satō, et. al., Mitsui Kōkei, Tokyo, 2006, p. 46-48. |
| Collections This Print | National Diet Library Call Number 寄別7-8-2-5 (1925 album, no images displayed); Harvard Yenching Library HOLLIS number 990082993710203941 (1925 album, no images displayed) |
last revision:
1/30/2021
12/25/2020 created
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