About This Print
Depicting coal miners entering a mine with pickaxes (tsuruhashi) in hand and exiting the mine carrying yoked baskets (sena) of coal, this color woodblock print (nishiki-e) was one of 118 prints in the series Dai Nippon Bussan Zue (Products of Greater Japan), issued in August 1877 to coincide with the opening of Japan’s first National Industrial Exposition (Naikoku Kangyō Hakurankai) held in Tokyo’s Ueno Park. As the series’ name implies, each print depicted an economic activity in a province or district of Japan. In addition, each activity was described on the print in a scroll-like cartouche.
Iga Province was a province in the area that is today Mie Prefecture. Iga bordered on Ise, Ōmi,Yamato, and Yamashiro Provinces. The Saruka mountains which bordered Iga were noted for their coal reserves. An 1878-1879 geological survey describes Iga coal as being "black and shining."1 The print's scroll mentions that the coal produced is like the color of lacquer.
The Hagi Yamaguchi Prefectural Art Museum Urakami database shows (see below) that this print and Polished Sand of Iga Province were printed together on the same oban size sheet.
1 Geological survey of Japan: Reports of progress for 1878 and 1879 By Benjamin Smith Lyman http://books.google.com/books?id=6Ky7AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA217&lpg=PA217&dq=iga+province+japan+coal&source=bl&ots=QOd_PiH-to&sig=afZFGngfC4M7xrptYYQOgBawUNk&hl=en&ei=BTVqS6nuGYy4swOZ4uifAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CBYQ6AEwBDgU#v=onepage&q=iga&f=false
Coal miners at work in Fukuoka in 1897.
The Hagi Yamaguchi Prefectural Art Museum Urakami database shows (see below) that this print and Polished Sand of Iga Province were printed together on the same oban size sheet.
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. And, as we can see in this collection's two prints, even when the same color cartouche was used there could be differences there could be color variances in the prints subject matter, e.g note the differences in legging colors worn by the miners in the two prints.1 Geological survey of Japan: Reports of progress for 1878 and 1879 By Benjamin Smith Lyman http://books.google.com/books?id=6Ky7AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA217&lpg=PA217&dq=iga+province+japan+coal&source=bl&ots=QOd_PiH-to&sig=afZFGngfC4M7xrptYYQOgBawUNk&hl=en&ei=BTVqS6nuGYy4swOZ4uifAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CBYQ6AEwBDgU#v=onepage&q=iga&f=false
Transcription of Scroll
Source: with thanks to Yajifun http://yajifun.tumblr.com/Coal Mining in Iga Province 同國石炭山之？（図）
“石炭ハ長野笠取兜?より産す礦属にして其色漆の如し 山中深く掘入て出こと金山とおなじ 其用木炭より火気倍せるをもつて蒸気の力を用る物及び金石を鎔鋳する物尽く用ひざるなし 又油を製して燈火に用ゆ”
Article for Hereditas Minariorum - A Journal of the History of Mining
PowerPoint Presentation Notes from 1-31-2017 Presentation
Shipping Ice from Hakodate, Hokkaidō, Coal Mining in Iga Province and Silkworm Culture in Hitachi Province from the series Products of Greater Japan, 1877
This series of 118 prints depicts various economic activities throughout Japan. Its release coincided with the opening of Japan’s First National Industrial Exposition held in Tokyo’s Ueno Park in August 1877. The show’s exhibits, collected from across Japan, were categorized into six groups - mining and metallurgy, manufactures, fine art, machinery, agriculture, and horticulture. Nearly half a million visitors attended during its 3 month run and four more exhibitions were to follow. These fairs were modeled after Western industrial exhibitions and provided “a meeting place for Western technologies and their Japanese counterparts.”
National Diet Library website http://www.ndl.go.jp/exposition/e/s1/naikoku1.html
These three prints are from a series of 118 prints depicting various economic activities throughout Japan. The prints were big sellers both during and after the First National Industrial Exposition held in Tokyo’s Ueno Park in August 1877, while the Satsuma Rebellion raged 600 miles southwest of the capital. The prints were sold individually and also bound into books for sale. Nearly half a million visitors attended the exposition during its 3 month run and four more exhibitions were to follow.
Article for Hereditas Minariorum - A Journal of the History of Mining
PowerPoint Presentation Notes from 1-31-2017 Presentation
| Shipping Ice from Hakodate, Hokkaidō, Coal Mining in Iga Province and Silkworm Culture in Hitachi Province from the series Products of Greater Japan, 1877 This series of 118 prints depicts various economic activities throughout Japan. Its release coincided with the opening of Japan’s First National Industrial Exposition held in Tokyo’s Ueno Park in August 1877. The show’s exhibits, collected from across Japan, were categorized into six groups - mining and metallurgy, manufactures, fine art, machinery, agriculture, and horticulture. Nearly half a million visitors attended during its 3 month run and four more exhibitions were to follow. These fairs were modeled after Western industrial exhibitions and provided “a meeting place for Western technologies and their Japanese counterparts.” National Diet Library website http://www.ndl.go.jp/exposition/e/s1/naikoku1.html These three prints are from a series of 118 prints depicting various economic activities throughout Japan. The prints were big sellers both during and after the First National Industrial Exposition held in Tokyo’s Ueno Park in August 1877, while the Satsuma Rebellion raged 600 miles southwest of the capital. The prints were sold individually and also bound into books for sale. Nearly half a million visitors attended the exposition during its 3 month run and four more exhibitions were to follow. |
Print Details
| IHL Catalog | #324 and #1486 |
| Title or Description | Coal Mine in Iga Province 同国 [伊賀国]石炭山之図 dōkoku sekitan yama no zu |
| Series | Dai Nippon Bussan Zue 大日本物産図会 (Products of Greater Japan) |
| Artist | Utagawa Hiroshige III (1842–1894) |
| Signature |  |
| Seal | none |
| Publication Date | 1877 (Meiji 10) |
| Publisher |  appearing in right margin 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. #324: good IHL Cat. #1486: excellent |
| Colors | IHL Cat. #324: excellent IHL Cat. #1486: excellent |
| Condition | IHL Cat. #324: good - likely original centerfold from binding in small book IHL Cat. #1486: good - centerfold reinforced with tape verso; vertical fold just left of centerfold; slight toning; small tear right bottom margin |
| Genre | nishiki-e; kaika-e |
| Miscellaneous |  |
| Format | chuban |
| H x W Paper | IHL Cat. #324: 6 7/8 x 9 1/4 in. (17.5 x 23.5 cm) IHL Cat. #1486: 6 3/4 x 9 1/4 in. (17.1 x 23.5 cm) |
| H x W Image | IHL Cat. #324: 6 3/8 x 8 7/8 in. (16.2 x 22.5 cm) IHL Cat. #1486: 6 3/8 x 8 7/8 in. (16.2 x 22.5 cm) |
| Literature | |
| Collections This Print | Hagi Yamaguchi Prefectural Art Museum Urakami system: U02977; Waseda University Library Archive 01_04265_0001; National Institute of Japanese Literature Archives & Collections 37T/026 |
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