About This Print

This 29th print in the 36 print series depicts Mount Houei and its crater, which last erupted in 1707, from the vantage point of a climber coming upon one of the huts along the Fujinomiya trail on Mount Fuji.  This print is the original issue (first edition) published by Uchida Woodblock Printing Company between 1939 and 1940 as part of the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji.

The Series - Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji

Published by Uchida Bijutsu Shoten between 1939 and 1940, this 36-print set (plus an introductory sheet and a table of contents sheet) by Tokuriki Tomikichirō (1902-2000) is a more modern take on Hokusai's (1760–1849) famous series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (1826-1833). 

Tokuriki's series was extremely popular with domestic and foreign buyers who purchased one thousand copies within a short time after issuance.¹  Various prints from this series were re-printed in subsequent years and subsets of the thirty-six prints were repackaged into newly named series, such as Eight Views of Mount Fuji and Four Season of Mount Fuji, released in the 1950s.  Later printings omit the information in the margin, modify Tokuriki's signature and change the seals below his signature appearing in the image area of the print.

¹ Modern JapaneseWoodblock Prints - The Early Years, Helen Merritt, University of Hawaii Press, 1998, p. 89.

Format of Margin Annotations and Image Signatures and Seals of Original Edition

Source: Modern Japanese Prints: 1912-1989, Lawrence Smith, British Museum Press, 1994, p. 50.

¹ The kiwame (examined) censor's seal is an enlarged reproduction of the one used by government-appointed censors from 1790 onwards.

Hōeizan

Source: Nippon Koei Co., Ltd. website http://www.n-koei.co.jp/english/topics/approach/2002_winter_english.html
Mt. Houei (2,693m) and its crater, at the middle of the south eastern slope of Mt. Fuji, formed as the result of a 1707 eruption.  The Houei eruption was the largest on record, with vegetation, homes, and fields being buried and denuded by ash. Records from the time show the scale of eruption and spread of ash and relate how fearsome the eruption was.  The resulting formation was called "Hōeizan" because the eruption occurred in the fourth year of "Hōei."

View of Mount Fuji showing the crater of the 1707 Houei eruption at the south-east of the mountain. Source: Nippon Koei Co., Ltd. website http://www.n-koei.co.jp/english/topics/approach/2002_winter_english.html

A hut, possibly at the 6th stage, along the Fujinomiya route on Mt. Fuji which, on a clearer day, would afford a view of Hōeizan.  Source:  Hyougushi's photostream on http://www.flickr.com/photos/hyougushi/

Print Details

IHL Catalog	#435
Title	View of Hōeizan from the 4th Camp of Mount Fuji  表口四合目より寳永山を望む
Series	Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji  富士三十六景ノ内 Fuji sanjūrokukei no uchi
Artist	Tokuriki Tomikichirō (1902-2000)
Signature	Tomikichirō saku
Seal	no artist's seal (see above for information on various seals in margin and image)
Date	1939-1940
Edition	original (first) edition
Publisher	Uchida Bijutsu Shoten - Hanmoto Uchida (on print); Uchida Bijutsu Shoritsu han and Reproduction not permitted on margin
Impression	excellent
Colors	excellent
Condition	good - mat line and minor toning within mat line; two spots top corners verso from previous folio mounting
Genre	shin hanga (new print)
Miscellaneous	print #29 in the series
Format	horizontal oban
H x W Paper	11 1/4 x 16 1/2 in. (28.6 x 41.9 cm)
H x W Image	10 1/4 x 15 in. (26 x 38.1 cm)
Collections This Print	Harvard Art Museum/Arthur M. Sackler Museum 1978.431
Reference Literature