About This Print
Sources: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oji_Paper_Company and Tokyo Metropolitan Library website http://www.library.metro.tokyo.jp/portals/0/edo/tokyo_library/english/modal/print.html?d=138
The top print (IHL Cat. #1285) provides a past, or old (古), view of Asukayama Park, where women are playing kawarake-nage, "throwing unglazed or sun-dried earthenware from a high place with prayers for warding off evil and enjoying watching them flying in the wind." Asukayama was a favorite place for this activity. It is matched with a present, or now (今), view on the bottom sheet (IHL Cat. #1285), depicting park visitors, some in Western-style dress, looking out to the site of the Ōji Paper Company founded in 1873 by the industrialist Shibusawa Eiichi (渋沢 栄一, 1840–1931).
Asukayama, opened as a public park in 1737, was a popular site for cherry-blossom viewing.
These past and present views were orginally printed together as one oban-size sheet as shown below and later cut apart. They are two of at least 32 views, contained on 16 uncut oban-size sheets, in the series Famous Places of Tokyo: Past and Present.
The Series: Famous Places of Tokyo: Past and Present
A series of at least sixteen uncut oban-size sheets depicting a past or old (古) view on the top sheet, and present or now (今) view, on the bottom sheet, of a particular area of Tokyo. Many of the views are similar to those found in Hiroshige's One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei).
PowerPoint Presentation Notes from 1-31-2017 Presentation
Kawarake-nage at Asukayama Park and Ōji Paper Company Viewed from Asukayama Park from the series Famous Places of Tokyo Past and Present, 1884
This series of prints contrasts a current (1884) view of a "famous place" in the Tokyo area with a past view. In this pair of prints, the past view pictures a game of kawarake-nage in which unglazed pottery is thrown through the air accompanied by prayers to ward off evil spirits while the present view portrays Western and traditionally clothed park-goers gazing out to the Ōji Paper Company, Japan's first manufacturer of Western-style paper, founded in 1873.
The Oji Paper Company still operates today and is one of the world’s largest producers of paper products.
PowerPoint Presentation Notes from 1-31-2017 Presentation
| Kawarake-nage at Asukayama Park and Ōji Paper Company Viewed from Asukayama Park from the series Famous Places of Tokyo Past and Present, 1884 This series of prints contrasts a current (1884) view of a "famous place" in the Tokyo area with a past view. In this pair of prints, the past view pictures a game of kawarake-nage in which unglazed pottery is thrown through the air accompanied by prayers to ward off evil spirits while the present view portrays Western and traditionally clothed park-goers gazing out to the Ōji Paper Company, Japan's first manufacturer of Western-style paper, founded in 1873. The Oji Paper Company still operates today and is one of the world’s largest producers of paper products. |
Print Details
| IHL Catalog | #1291, #1285 | ||
| Title or Description | #1291: Kawarake-nage at Asukayama Park Asukayama kawarake-nage 飛鳥山かわらけなげ #1285: Ōji Paper Company Viewed from Asukayama Park Asukayama kōenchi Ōji seishi kaisha 飛鳥山公園地王子製紙会社 | ||
| Series | Famous Places of Tokyo: Past and The Present (Kokon Tokyo meisho 古今東京名所) | ||
| Artist | Utagawa Hiroshige III (1842–1894) | ||
| Signature |   | ||
| Seal | no seal | ||
| Publication Date |  | ||
| Publisher |
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| Carver | |||
| Impression | excellent | ||
| Colors | excellent | ||
| Condition | good | ||
| Genre | nishiki-e; meisho-e | ||
| Miscellaneous |   | ||
| Format | chūban yoko-e | ||
| H x W Paper | IHL Cat. #1291: 7 1/4 x 9 3/8 in. (18.4 x 23.8) IHL Cat. #1285: 7 1/4 x 9 5/16 in. (18.4 x 23.7 cm) | ||
| H x W Image | IHL Cat. #1291: 6 9/16 x 8 9/16 in. (16.7 x 21.7 cm) IHL Cat. #1285: 6 1/2 x 8 9/16 in. (16.5 x 21.7 cm) | ||
| Literature | |||
| Collections This Print | Banknote & Postage Stamp Museum |
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