Tagonoura Bridge
Artist: Kawase Hasui
Name: Tagonoura Bridge
Date: 1936
Source: Honolulu Museum of Art
Description: Hasui often portrays Mt. Fuji. Some of his works seem to pay homage to Hokusai’s depictions of this famous mountain. However, this particular print evokes not Hokusai but rather Hiroshige’s rendition of Mt. Fuji. Few people are familiar with Hiroshige’s series “Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji.” This series depicts the sacred mountain in a vertical composition, which seems to be Hiroshige’s preference. The dramatic rise in the number of prints featuring Mount Fuji in the 1930s was surely born from Fuji’s patriotic symbolism and the country’s burgeoning nationalism. However, such pictures of famous places in Japan (meisho-e) were already well known in the West. Therefore, such landscapes were already in high demand by the West as well as in Japan. (from Nostalgic Japan exhibition 6/8/2005-)
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