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Plum Garden, Kamata (Kamata no Umezono), No. 27 from One Hundred Famous Views of Edo

Utagawa Hiroshige

Asian Art

The entire Kamata area south of Ōmori was known for the cultivation of plum trees and was celebrated more for its early summertime fruits than its springtime blossoms. The gentle beauty of this print tends to distract the viewer from the structure intruding from the right. It is a cushioned palanquin known as a yamakago ("mountain palanquin"), once widely used for travel in Japan. The overgarment left casually on top suggests that a traveler has recently stopped off for a brief rest from the nearby Tokaido highway that linked Edo to Kyoto.

MEDIUM Woodblock print
  • Place Made: Japan
  • DATES 2nd month of1857
    PERIOD Edo Period, Ansei Era
    DIMENSIONS Image: 13 3/8 x 9 in. (34 x 22.9 cm) Sheet: 14 1/2 x 9 1/4 in. (36.8 x 23.5 cm)  (show scale)
    MARKINGS Publisher: Shitaya Uo Ei
    SIGNATURE Hiroshige-ga
    COLLECTIONS Asian Art
    ACCESSION NUMBER 30.1478.27
    CREDIT LINE Gift of Anna Ferris
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION View of the extensive Plum Garden in the Kamata area. The estate which was open to the public complete with teahouses and a restaurant dated from the early Bunsei Period (1818-1830) and came to be known as the "Plum Mansion" (Umeyashiki), with its several hundred trees extending into the distance. The owner of the mansion was a medicine dealer from Omori, whose chief product was a cold remedy called Wachusan. The structure on the right is an indigo cushioned palanquin of the simple A-frame type known as a "yamakago" ("mountain palanquin") and was used widely for travel in Japan, suggesting that a traveler had stopped off from nearby Tokaido for a rest, leaving an over garment on top.
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION Utagawa Hiroshige (Japanese, 1797-1858). Plum Garden, Kamata (Kamata no Umezono), No. 27 from One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, 2nd month of1857. Woodblock print, Image: 13 3/8 x 9 in. (34 x 22.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Anna Ferris, 30.1478.27 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 30.1478.27_PS20.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, 30.1478.27_PS20.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2023
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