Meguro Drum Bridge and Sunset Hill, from One Hundred Views of Famous Places in Edo

Utagawa Hiroshige (Japanese, 1797–1858)

1857

Medium
color woodblock print
Classification
Print
Dimensions
Sheet: 23.2 x 36.1 cm (9 1/8 x 14 3/16 in.)
Culture
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art, Japanese Art
Credit line
Gift of Mrs. Francis F. Prentiss for the Dudley P. Allen Collection
Rights
Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
Who can see it
Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed

View at the Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

The arched stone bridge over the Meguro River in Edo (now Tokyo) was known as the Drum Bridge for its resemblance to the rounded profile of a drum. This print shows people shielding themselves from the snow with hats and umbrellas as they cross it. In the foreground on the lower right, behind the artist’s signature, is the roof of a shop called Shōgatsu-ya that served shiruko mochi—a sweet red-bean soup with rice cakes that is a winter treat. Sunset Hill lies on the other side of the bridge and was once known for its red maple leaves in autumn.