Washio's inscription, covering three pages, is printed (printing method unknown) over a woodblock printed background of a bamboo forest, a type of gasan.2
Washio in 1926
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 "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
#2413.03, .04, .05 Title or Description Preface encompassing three pages. Each page of the preface printed over a background woodblock print of a bamboo forest. 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 史料編纂官 鷲尾順敬氏 - Mr. Washio Junkyō, Historiographer. Seal of the artist no seals 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 IHL Cat. #2413.03; 04; 05: excellent Colors IHL Cat. #2413.03; 04; 05: excellent Condition IHL Cat. #2413.03 (sheet 1): good - toning along right margin edge; lower left margin tattered.
IHL Cat. #2413.04 (sheet 2): fair - left margin tattered; approx. 2 x 3/4 in. bleed from album cover bottom right
IHL Cat. #2413.05 (sheet 3): fair - overall toning; soiling; diagonal fold upper right of margin Genre shin hanga; shasei kikō (sketch-tour) Miscellaneous
Format horizontal oban
H x W Paper
each sheet: 10 1/16 x 15 1/8 in. (25.4 x 38.6 cm) H x W Image
each sheet: 8 1/2 x 11 1/2 in. (21.6 x 29.8 cm) (area defined by green/magenta 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 | #2413.03, .04, .05 |
| Title or Description | Preface encompassing three pages. Each page of the preface printed over a background woodblock print of a bamboo forest. |
| 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 | Inscription in the right margin reading 史料編纂官 鷲尾順敬氏 - Mr. Washio Junkyō, Historiographer. |
| Seal of the artist | no seals |
| 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 |
| 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 | IHL Cat. #2413.03; 04; 05: excellent |
| Colors | IHL Cat. #2413.03; 04; 05: excellent |
| Condition | IHL Cat. #2413.03 (sheet 1): good - toning along right margin edge; lower left margin tattered. IHL Cat. #2413.04 (sheet 2): fair - left margin tattered; approx. 2 x 3/4 in. bleed from album cover bottom right IHL Cat. #2413.05 (sheet 3): fair - overall toning; soiling; diagonal fold upper right of margin |
| Genre | shin hanga; shasei kikō (sketch-tour) |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Format | horizontal oban |
| H x W Paper | each sheet: 10 1/16 x 15 1/8 in. (25.4 x 38.6 cm) |
| H x W Image | each sheet: 8 1/2 x 11 1/2 in. (21.6 x 29.8 cm) (area defined by green/magenta 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
12/27/2020 created
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