Collections: Asian Art: Towboats Along the Yotsugi-dori Canal, No. 33 in One Hundred Famous Views of Edo

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Towboats Along the Yotsugi-dori Canal, No. 33 in One Hundred Famous Views of Edo

• Artist: Utagawa Hiroshige (Ando), Japanese, 1797-1858
• Medium: Woodblock print
• Place Made: Japan
• Dates: 2nd month of 1857
• Period: Edo Period, Ansei Era
• Dimensions: Sheet: 14 1/4 x 9 1/8 in. (36.2 x 23.2 cm) Image: 13 7/16 x 9 in. (34.1 x 22.9 cm)
• Signature: Hiroshige-ga
• Collections: Asian Art
• Museum Location: This item is not on view
• Accession Number: 30.1478.33
• Credit Line: Gift of Anna Ferris
• Image: Overall, 30.1478.33_PS1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2006
Utagawa Hiroshige (Ando) (Japanese, 1797-1858). Towboats Along the Yotsugi-dori Canal, No. 33 in One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, 2nd month of 1857. Woodblock print, Sheet: 14 1/4 x 9 1/8 in. (36.2 x 23.2 cm) Image: 13 7/16 x 9 in. (34.1 x 22.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Anna Ferris, 30.1478.33 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 30.1478.33_PS1.jpg)
• Catalogue Description: This was the only towboat canal in Edo and was used as a regular passenger-boat service from Honjo for the 4 1/2 mile ride to the intersection with the Mito Highway at Kameari, where the towboat service ended, but the canal itself continued another 10 miles to the north. (The canal in fact followed a straight line; the curving course shown here is Hiroshige's rendition.) The ferry service continued until the early 1880's, when the canal was severed into two parts by the construction of the Arakawa Drainage Channel and the southern segment was covered over in the 1950's. The rest survives today, although the stretch south of Kameari, depicted here, is quite polluted. This print is highly praised by Japanese commentators for its "strong harmony of color" and Uchida Minoru ranked it number five in the entire series.