Moon through Leaves

Catalog note / 解説

Judging from the series title for this print, Hiroshige intended to design twenty-eight images inspired by the moon. Today, only two designs are known, suggesting that he abandoned the idea shortly after beginning. For this image, Hiroshige was inspired by a poem originally published in the Wakan Roeishu (Anthology of Chinese and Japanese Poems for Recitation), compiled in the 11th century by the courtier Fujiwara Kinto: It is not unbearable to see maple leaves fall, Scattering on the mass-covered ground. It is unbearable to feel the wind grow chilly And see the whole sky darkening. (trans. by Yoko Woodson)