The Cushion-Pine at Aoyama, Edo

Catalog note / 解説

Hokusai depicts Fuji from the garden of Ryüganji, a Zen temple also famous for its fantastic pine tree. With its enormously outspread branches, the canopy of this tree looks like a gigantic green cushion; thus it was called the Cushion-pine. Some branches were over 42 feet long and could not bear their own weight, so they were supported by stilts. Each branch and its pine needles are executed in minute detail. In front of the pine are picnickers. A father and son walking hand-in-hand climb the hill to where two men are already seated on a rug, enjoying themselves and drinking sake. Ryüanji was located in present-day Harajuku 1-chome, Shibuya ward, a posh center for young people. The Cushion…