About This Print
One of 118 prints in the series Dai Nippon Bussan Zue (Products of Greater Japan), issued in August 1877 tocoincide with the opening of Japan’s first National Industrial Exposition (Naikoku Kangyō Hakurankai) held inTokyo’s Ueno Park. The print depicts men catching salmon which have become stranded on a sandbar during their autumn migration up river.
Echigo (越後国,Echigo no kuni) was an old province in north-central Japan, on the Sea of Japan side, northernmost part of the Hokurikudō (北陸道）) Circuit. It bordered on Uzen, Iwashiro, Kōzuke, Shinano, and Etchū Provinces. Today the area is part of Niigata Prefecture, which also includes the island which was the old Sado Province.1
Scroll Inscription
Source: National Museum of Japanese History http://www.rekihaku.ac.jp/up-cgi/getdocrd.pl?tn=1548&ti=0&h=./history/w11288752628_28652&ch=2&p=param/nisikie/db_param&o=1501&k=50&l=&sf=0&so=Notes:
［備考］中判 横 錦絵 画工：歌川広重３ 安藤徳兵衛 大鋸町四番地 版元：大倉孫兵衛 日本橋通一丁目十九番地 主題内容：産業・技術 物産絵 越後 人名その他：鮭 菅笠 腰簑
Scroll:
「当国の鮭は初秋上り 北海を出て千曲川阿加川に沂る事凡五十四里 川にある事五ヶ月 清き流水の所に子を産つけ后海に返る ?水にある事十四五日にして魚 と化 春に至て海に入 生長して川を登る事前のごとし 鮭網あるを知り遁んとして河原に飛上り走ること四五間矢の如くにして水に飛入る 然れども先なる魚 ものにふれて倒るゝことあれば後の鮭皆倒て走らず 奇魚と云べし 漁夫これをとる事安し」
1 Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echigo_Province
［備考］中判 横 錦絵 画工：歌川広重３ 安藤徳兵衛 大鋸町四番地 版元：大倉孫兵衛 日本橋通一丁目十九番地 主題内容：産業・技術 物産絵 越後 人名その他：鮭 菅笠 腰簑
Scroll:
「当国の鮭は初秋上り 北海を出て千曲川阿加川に沂る事凡五十四里 川にある事五ヶ月 清き流水の所に子を産つけ后海に返る ?水にある事十四五日にして魚 と化 春に至て海に入 生長して川を登る事前のごとし 鮭網あるを知り遁んとして河原に飛上り走ること四五間矢の如くにして水に飛入る 然れども先なる魚 ものにふれて倒るゝことあれば後の鮭皆倒て走らず 奇魚と云べし 漁夫これをとる事安し」
Multiple Editions (Variant Printings)
At least three variant printings (editions) were made of this series. Each variant printing uses a different colored cartouche containing the series' title, either red, green or rainbow-colored. Different colored borders were also used and variances in the use of colors and shading are present in the three editions.
While this collection's two prints both have a red series title, differences in color can be seen in the print, most notably in the shading of the foreground sandbar.
Print Details
| IHL Catalog | #364 and #1489 |
| Title or Description | Catching Salmon in Echigo Province 越後国鮭洲走を捕図 |
| Series | Dai Nippon Bussan Zue 大日本物産図会 (Products of Greater Japan) |
| Artist | Utagawa Hiroshige III (1842–1894) |
| Signature |   Full cartouche reads 画工 大鋸町四番地 安藤徳兵エ [gakō Ōga machi yon banchi Andō Tokubei] |
| Seal | none |
| Publication Date | 1877 (Meiji 10) |
| Publisher |   Ōkura Magobei 大倉孫兵衛 (Kin'eido; 1843-1921) [Marks: pub. ref. 627] appearing in right margin. (partially trimmed from both prints)Full cartouche reads 出版人 日本橋通一丁目十九番地 大倉孫兵衛 (Publisher, Nihobashi-dōri Itchōme 19-banchi, Ōkura Magobei) |
| Impression | IHL Cat. #364: good IHL Cat. #1489: good |
| Colors | IHL Cat. #364: excellent IHL Cat. #1489: excellent |
| Condition | IHL Cat. #364: excellent - centerfold IHL Cat. #1489: good - separation at centerfold reinforced on verso; small paper loss at top of centerfold; left half of print is backed |
| Genre | nishiki-e; kaika-e |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Format | chuban |
| H x W Paper | IHL Cat. #364: 6 7/8 x 9 3/8 in. (17.5 x 23.8 cm) IHL Cat. #1489: 6 13/16 x 9 1/4 in. (17.3 x 23.5 cm) |
| H x W Image | IHL Cat. #364: 6 3/8 x 9 in. (16.2 x 22.9 cm) IHL Cat. #1489: 6 3/8 x 9 in. (16.2 x 22.9 cm) |
| Literature | |
| Collections This Print | Hagi Yamaguchi Prefectural Art Museum Urakami system U02956; Waseda University Library Archives 01_04265_0002; National Museum of Japanese History H-22-1-30-7-24 |
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