 i-f0b24d57d3813dd1.jpg)
 i-9067dec96e7bcf45.jpg)
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. depicting mackerel fishing using torches, which not only attract the mackerel toward the boat but also lure smaller fish whose presence in turn is an attraction to the voracious mackerel.
Noto Province (能登国 Noto no Kuni) was an old province in the area that is today the northern part of Ishikawa Prefecture in Japan, including the Noto Peninsula (Noto hantō) which is surrounded by the Sea of Japan. It was sometimes called Nōshū (能州). Noto bordered on Etchū and Kaga provinces.1
The artist based many of his designs on the designs that appeared in the 1799 book Nihon Sankai Meisan Zue (Famous Sea and Land Products in Japan), leaving some question whether everything Hiroshige III portrayed in the series was truly the "state of the art" in 1877 when the series was issued. (Although for many activities pictured, things wouldhave looked much the same in 1877 as in 1799.) In many cases, the information in the scroll is also copied from the earlier work.
click on image to enlarge
鯖鈎舟
Illustration of mackerel fishing from Nihon Sankai Meisan Zue (Famous Sea and Land Products in Japan), 1799
1 Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noto_Province
Transcription of Scroll
Source: with thanks to Yajifun http://yajifun.tumblr.com/Mackerel Fishing at Night in Noto Province 同（能登）國鯖鈎之圖
“鯖ハ諸國の海濱に鱲すると？も（雖も）能登にてとる物を名品とす 春夏秋の夜そら曇り潮水立のほり海上霞?たるを鯖日和と称して魚舟数百艘打並び舟毎に篝（カガリ）を照し万火天を焦（コガス）か如し 鈎糸ハ十尋計りにて鰯蝦などを餌として手繰にて釣也”
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.
Print Details
| IHL Catalog | #363 and #1500 |
| Title or Description | Mackerel Fishing at Night in Noto Province 同[能登] 國鯖釣之圖 dō koku [Noto] saba tsuri 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 | IHL Cat. #363: no signature or artist cartouche i-5a8718f215f03787.jpg) 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 | IHL Cat. #363: no publisher cartouche i-5f6129d40319eef9.jpg) 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. #363: good IHL Cat. #1500: good |
| Colors | IHL Cat. #363: excellent IHL Cat. #1500: excellent |
| Condition | IHL Cat. #363: good - centerfold IHL Cat. #1500:good - centerfold reinforced with tape |
| Genre | nishiki-e; kaika-e |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Format | chuban |
| H x W Paper | IHL Cat. #363: 6 7/8 x 9 3/8 in. (17.5 x 23.8 cm) IHL Cat. #1500: 6 3/4 x 9 5/16 in. (17.1 x 23.7 cm) |
| H x W Image | IHL Cat. #363: 6 3/8 x 8 7/8 in. (16.2 x 22.5 cm) IHL Cat. #1500 6 3/8 x 8 7/8 in. (16.2 x 22.5 cm) |
| Literature | Ukiyoe ikkan hyakushu: mizube no fuzokushi, Naoji Kanamori, Tsuribitosha, 2006, p. 181. |
| Collections This Print | National Institute of Japanese Literature Archives & Collections 37T/034; Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of History |
 |  |  |  |  |