Ryögoku in the Eastern Capital

Catalog note / 解説

Hokusai’s Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, the first effort to design thirty-six views of the mountain, had a significant impact on later artists. The next print designer to undertake a portrayal of the thirty-six views was Hokusai’s younger competitor Hiroshige, although it is telling that Hiroshige waited until well after Hokusai passed away before starting the project. Published one year after Hiroshige’s own death, his Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji differs from its predecessor in the use of a vertical format, favored by the artist for many of his later series, including the famous One Hundred Views of Edo. Ryögoku was one of the prosperous areas in the city of Edo (modern Tokyo). A popu…