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Hall of Thirty-Three Bays, Fukagawa, No. 69 from One Hundred Famous Views of Edo

Utagawa Hiroshige

Asian Art

The Hall of Thirty-Three Bays was under the jurisdiction of Eitaiji Temple, whose garden was the subject of the previous print. This view from behind the elongated hall is a skillful expression of the use of the long rear veranda as an archery range. A shooting trial seems to be underway, with the contestants expected to shoot the arrows so that they stayed within the confines of the veranda, clearing the length of the building without hitting any part of it. Shooting speed was as important as accuracy.

MEDIUM Woodblock print
  • Place Made: Japan
  • DATES 8th month of 1857
    PERIOD Edo Period, Ansei Era
    DIMENSIONS Sheet: 14 1/4 x 9 5/16 in. (36.2 x 23.7 cm) Image: 13 1/2 x 9 in. (34.3 x 22.9 cm)  (show scale)
    MARKINGS Publisher: Shitaya Uo Ei
    SIGNATURE Hiroshige-ga
    COLLECTIONS Asian Art
    ACCESSION NUMBER 30.1478.69
    CREDIT LINE Gift of Anna Ferris
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION The long rear veranda of the building shown here is an archery range, and the structure (with a length of almost 400 feet) was built in 1642 primarily to encourage martial arts. The contestants were expected to shoot the arrows within the confines of the veranda, clearing the length of the building without hitting any part of it. Speed was as important as accuracy, and the all-time record was set in 1839 when a ten-year-old child managed in ten hours to shoot 12,015 arrows and all but 255 cleared the veranda. The spectators in the foreground are facing left, apparently watching the course of an arrow as the archer shoots from a seated position to the right. The hall burned down in 1698 and the new owner, a lumber supplier, rebuilt it adjacent to his own lumberyard in the Kiba area of Fukagawa (see print 106 of the series). The lumber was stored in the pond in the distance. Following the abolition of the samurai class and the persecution of Buddhists, the Hall of Thirty-Three Bays fell out of use and was torn down in 1872 to provide more space for the lumber merchants.
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION Utagawa Hiroshige (Japanese, 1797-1858). Hall of Thirty-Three Bays, Fukagawa, No. 69 from One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, 8th month of 1857. Woodblock print, Sheet: 14 1/4 x 9 5/16 in. (36.2 x 23.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Anna Ferris, 30.1478.69 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 30.1478.69_PS20.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, 30.1478.69_PS20.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2023
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