Silkworm Culture in Iwaki Province (figure 4) from the series Dai Nippon Bussan Zue (Products of Greater Japan)

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Japanese Color Woodblock Print

Silkworm Culture in Iwaki Province (figure 4)

from the series Dai Nippon Bussan Zue

(Products of Greater Japan)

by Utagawa Hiroshige III, 1877

IHL Cat. #372

About This Print

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.

In keeping with the importance of sericulture to Japan's economy and industrialization, seven prints in the series are devoted to it. The Exposition was essentially "an industrial promotion opportunity providing a meeting place for Western technologies and their Japanese counterparts."¹ "Silk production was the first example of an industry in which European producers deliberately sought out Japanese know-how" and "the source of Japan's first export technology."²

The six prints in the series depicting silkworm culture are:

Silkworm Culture in Hitachi Province (figure 1) 常陸国養蠶之図一

Silkworm Culture in Hida Province (figure 2) 飛騨国養蚕之図二

Silkworm Culture in Shimotsuke Province (figure 3) 下野国養蠶國三

Silkworm Culture in Iwaki Province (figure 4) 磐城国養蚕之図四

Silkworm Culture in Rikuzen Province (figure 5) 陸前国養蠶図五

Silkworm Culture in Rikuchū Province (figure 6) 陸中国養蚕之図六

Cultivating Wild Silkworms in Tajima Province 但馬国野蚕養之図

Iwaki (磐城国, Iwaki-no kuni) is a former province of Japan established in Meiji Era. It was cut out of Mutsu Province and corresponded to the eastern part of modern Fukushima Prefecture. Its population in 1872 was 348,608.³

Scroll Inscription

Source: National Museum of Japanese History http://www.rekihaku.ac.jp/up-cgi/getdocrd.pl?tn=1556&ti=0&h=./history/w11288752628_28652&ch=2&p=param/nisikie/db_param&o=1551&k=50&l=&sf=0&so=

Notes:
［備考］中判　横　錦絵　　　画工：歌川広重３　広重筆　　版元：大倉孫兵衛　　　主題内容：産業・技術　物産絵　　磐城　　人名その他：蚕棚　蚕　籠　　

Scroll:
「蚕掃立より七八日目頃桑を喰止み色少し白くかしら太くなる　之を獅子の居休といふ　此時早く居からを取かへてよし　明朝八時にかへんと思はゝ　前夜桑を喰せて居からを取替べし　此時縁通りに居たる蚕を中に置　中に在りしを縁へ入かへ　棚も上下へ入かへれば　蚕一調によく揃ふと云」

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.

¹ Website National Diet Library https://www.ndl.go.jp/exposition/e/s1/naikoku1.html

² "Sericulture and the Origins of Japanese Industrialization", Tessa Morris-Suzuki, appearing JSTOR, Vol. 33, No.1, January 1992, p. 1-2-103; p. 121.
³ Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iwaki_Province_%281868%29

Print Details

IHL Catalog	#372
Title or Description	Depiction of Silkworm Culture in Iwaki Province (figure 4) 磐城国養蚕之図　四
Series	Dai Nippon Bussan Zue 大日本物産図会 (Products of Greater Japan)
Artist	Utagawa Hiroshige III (1842–1894)
Signature	no signature visible
Seal	none
Publication Date	1877 (Meiji 10)
Publisher	Ōkura Magobei 大倉孫兵衛 (Kin'eido; 1843-1921) [Marks: pub. ref. 627]
Impression	good
Colors	excellent
Condition	good - vertical centerfold
Genre	nishiki-e; kaika-e
Miscellaneous
Format	chuban
H x W Paper	6 7/8 x 9 1/4 in. (17.5 x 23.5 cm)
H x W Image	6 1/4 x 8 7/8 in. (15.9 x 22.5 cm)
Literature
Collections This Print	Hagi Yamaguchi Prefectural Art Museum Urakami system: U02986; National Museum of Japanese History H-22-1-30-7-32

latest revision:

3/26/2020