About This Print

This print, picturing the fires lit to celebrate the end of the O-Bon festival in Kyoto, is the original issue (first edition) published by Uchida Art Store (Uchida Woodblock Printing Company) in 1936 as part of the series Thirty Subjects [Views] of Kyoto.  Uchida mounted these prints on a display board with Tokuriki’s authentication seal on the reverse (see detail of board verso and label below.) These square format prints on board were part of a premium set of designs originally sold in a handmade box.  For an image of the box, please see Index for the series Thirty Subjects [Views] of Kyoto.

Uchida reissued this print after WWII (see below image) as part of the series Twelve Months of Kyoto (Kyo-meisho junikagetsu).

Daimonji Bonfire

Daimonji is one of the iconic festivals of Kyoto, Japan. It is the culmination of the O-Bon festival on August 16th, in which five giant bonfires are lit on mountains surrounding the city. It signifies the moment when the spirits of deceased family members, who are said to visit this world during O-Bon, are believed to be returning to the spirit world.<sup>1



1</sup> Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gozan_no_Okuribi

Print Details

IHL Catalog	#251
Title	大文字 Daimonji
Series	京洛三十題 (Kyōraku sanjū dai)  Thirty Subjects [Views] of Kyoto   note: also seen translated as Thirty Aspects of Kyoto
Artist	Tokuriki Tomikichirō (1902-2000)
Signature	徳力富吉郎 (Tokuriki Tomikichirō) lower left of image
Seal	no seal
Date	1936
Edition	original (first) edition
Publisher	Uchida bijutsu shoshi 内田美術書肆
Impression	excellent
Colors	excellent
Condition	good - light curling of backing board; losses at top right corner and top left edge of image; minor bubbling caused by separation of print from backing
Genre	shin hanga (new print)
Miscellaneous
Format	shikishiban
H x W Paper	10 11/16 x 9 1/2 in. (27.1 x 24.1 cm)
Collections This Print
Reference Literature

last revision: