Collections: Asian Art: Armor-Hanging Pine, Hakkeisaka, No. 26 in One Hundred Famous Views of Edo

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Armor-Hanging Pine, Hakkeisaka, No. 26 in One Hundred Famous Views of Edo

• Artist: Utagawa Hiroshige (Ando), Japanese, 1797-1858
• Medium: Woodblock print
• Place Made: Japan
• Dates: 5th month of 1856
• Period: Edo Period, Ansei Era
• Dimensions: Image: 13 11/16 x 8 7/8 in. (34.8 x 22.5 cm) Sheet: 14 3/16 x 9 1/4 in. (36 x 23.5 cm)
• Signature: Hiroshige-ga
• Collections: Asian Art
• Museum Location: This item is not on view
• Accession Number: 30.1478.26
• Credit Line: Gift of Anna Ferris
• Image: Overall, 30.1478.26_PS1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2006
Utagawa Hiroshige (Ando) (Japanese, 1797-1858). Armor-Hanging Pine, Hakkeisaka, No. 26 in One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, 5th month of 1856. Woodblock print, Image: 13 11/16 x 8 7/8 in. (34.8 x 22.5 cm) Sheet: 14 3/16 x 9 1/4 in. (36 x 23.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Anna Ferris, 30.1478.26 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 30.1478.26_PS1.jpg)
• Catalogue Description: Scene overlooking Edo Bady from the top of Kakkeizaka or "Eight Views Slope," located just west of what is today Omori Station on the Keihin Tohoku Line. In this view, two figures on the lower right are climbing up the slope and coming into an area that is today near the precincts of Tenso Shrine. The center of attraction is the large pine tree, the "Armor-Hanging Pine" of the title. According to legend, the warrior Minamoto Yoshiie stopped by here to rest on his way to conquer the Abe clan and hung his armor on the tree. This would have made the tree about 800 years old at the time Hiroshige depicted it. According to the "Edo meisho zue," it is recorded to have been "six to seven jo (60-70 feet) in height with a girth "big enough to hide an ox." The pine tree was noted for its lower hanging (willow-like) branches, however, Hiroshige has offered a very different form with a crooked trunk, intended perhaps to denote a hook for Yoshiie's armor and conventional branches.