Ukiyo-e Educational Catalog · Record 26372

Blossoms on the Tama River Embankment

Artist / 作者
Utagawa Hiroshige歌川広重
Date / 年代
1856
Medium / 技法
浮世絵 / Ukiyo-e / Edo / loc
Digital record / 画像記録
697 × 1024 px
Source collection / 所蔵元
Library of Congress
Published by / 公開者
黒川トウマ
Rights / 権利
No known restrictions on publication
Attribution / 表記
Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division

Catalog note / 解説

In Japan, it was traditionally thought that natural disasters (such as the Ansei earthquake) could be a sign of the coming of a new age, based on ancient Buddhist apocalyptic beliefs. By the mid-nineteenth century, Japan's Confucian-based society and economy could no longer maintain political and economic stability. The Tokugawa shogunate's power was diminishing. In 1853, the American Commodore Matthew Perry (1794-1858) arrived at the port of Uraga, forcing Japan to open itself to commercial trading with foreign countries for the first time in centuries. This event was a severe blow to the government, followed only two years later by the earthquake, crippling the Tokugawa shogunate's abilit…

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