Skip Navigation

Five Pines, Onagi Canal, No. 97 from One Hundred Famous Views of Edo

Utagawa Hiroshige

Asian Art

The large pine tree in the foreground, its overhanging branch carefully supported by three posts, is another one of several famous pines depicted in this series. The name Five Pines originated in the planting of five separate trees at intervals along the Onagi Canal. By this date, four had died, leaving only this one. It was a huge old tree, growing out over the water from within the walls of an estate of the daimyo, or military lord, of Ayabe.

MEDIUM Woodblock print
  • Place Made: Japan
  • DATES 7th month of 1856
    PERIOD Edo Period, Ansei Era
    DIMENSIONS Sheet: 14 3/16 x 9 1/4 in. (36 x 23.5 cm) Image: 13 3/8 x 8 3/4 in. (34 x 22.2 cm)  (show scale)
    MARKINGS Publisher: Shitaya Uo Ei. Date and censor seal at top margin.
    SIGNATURE Hiroshige-ga
    COLLECTIONS Asian Art
    ACCESSION NUMBER 30.1478.97
    CREDIT LINE Gift of Anna Ferris
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION The Onagi Canal in Gohonmatsu was in fact absolutely straight, but the artist has provided a curve in it for a more appealing composition. Originally there were five pine trees planted along the Onagi Canal, but four had died, leaving only this one, supported by three posts. In Hiroshige's time this was a very large old tree, growing out over the water within the walls of the Kuki estate, belonging to the daimyo of Ayabe. The tree finally fell victim to pollution, killed by smoke and dust from the Suzuki Cement factory that replaced the Kuki estate. The tree's girth was reported at thirteen feet. In the center a man is dragging his towel in the water. This same detail in a similar type of boat appeared in "View of Sunset Over Ryogoku Bridge from Ouyagashi Ferry" in Hokusai's famous "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji" series in the early 1830's.
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION Utagawa Hiroshige (Japanese, 1797-1858). Five Pines, Onagi Canal, No. 97 from One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, 7th month of 1856. Woodblock print, Sheet: 14 3/16 x 9 1/4 in. (36 x 23.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Anna Ferris, 30.1478.97 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 30.1478.97_PS20.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, 30.1478.97_PS20.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2023
    "CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
    RIGHTS STATEMENT No known copyright restrictions
    This work may be in the public domain in the United States. Works created by United States and non-United States nationals published prior to 1923 are in the public domain, subject to the terms of any applicable treaty or agreement. You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this work. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). The Museum does not warrant that the use of this work will not infringe on the rights of third parties, such as artists or artists' heirs holding the rights to the work. It is your responsibility to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions before copying, transmitting, or making other use of protected items beyond that allowed by "fair use," as such term is understood under the United States Copyright Act. The Brooklyn Museum makes no representations or warranties with respect to the application or terms of any international agreement governing copyright protection in the United States for works created by foreign nationals. For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
    RECORD COMPLETENESS
    Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.