Charcoal Making in Izu Province from the series Dai Nippon Bussan Zue (Products of Greater Japan)

 

Japanese Color Woodblock Print

Charcoal Making in Izu Province

from the series Dai Nippon Bussan Zue

(Products of Greater Japan)

by Utagawa Hiroshige III, 1877

Crane Hawk [falconry], in Iyo Province, figure 2 from the series Dai Nippon Bussan Zue (Products of Greater Japan)

IHL Cat. #371

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 the making of charcoal. Charcoal served as fuel and was used for both home cooking and heating (watan, made from deciduous broadleafs) and iron smelting and smithing (kotan, generally made from chestnut.)1   Izu province "was a major source of fuel, particularly charcoal, for the city of Edo, but its yield also was crucial to the people in villages..."2


Woman carrying charcoal c. 1890s

Izu Province (伊豆国 Izu-no kuni) was a province of Japan in the area of Shizuoka Prefecture. Izu bordered on Sagami and Suruga Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was Zushū (豆州).

The mainland portion of Izu Province, comprising the Izu Peninsula is today the eastern portion of Shizuoka Prefecture and the Izu Islands are now part of Tokyo.3

［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　　伊豆　天城　妻良　小浦　　人名その他：炭焼窯　木材　炭俵　桃の木

Scroll:
炭は豆州天城山妻良小浦より多く出す　山中に土をもつて大いなる焼竈をつくり　楢椚樫の木等を建に並いれて火をほどこし　ふたをして燻やきにして製す　ことに堅硬なるものをビンチヤウと称す　これはウバガシにて焚たる物なり

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.


1Politics in the Tokugawa Bakufu, 1600-1843, Conrad D. Totman, Berkeley : University of California Press, 1989, p. 22.
2 Ibid, p. 105.
3 Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Izu_Province

Print Details

 IHL Catalog
 #371
 Title or Description Charcoal Making in Izu Province 伊豆国 炭焼場之図
 Series
 Dai Nippon Bussan Zue 大日本物産図会 (Products of Greater Japan)
 Artist  Utagawa Hiroshige III (1842–1894)
 Signature 廣重筆 Hiroshige hitsu in bottom right margin (partially trimmed on this print)
 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 with some separation along top of 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 5/8 in. (15.9 x 21.9 cm)
 Literature

 Collections This Print
 Hagi Yamaguchi Prefectural Art Museum Urakami system: U02977; Waseda University Library Archives 01_04265_0001; National Museum of Japanese History H-22-1-30-7-17