Title : Tenpözan from the Aji River

Artist : Gakutei Gogaku

Date : 1834

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Source : Honolulu Museum of Art
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Description : Tenpözan is a famous scenic spot in Ösaka. Gogaku's series, Fine Views of Mt. Tenpö, is a set of six prints. Tenpözan is an artificial mountain made of earth moved from the Aji River in 1831. It was intended to be an amusement park of sorts, and included a stream, bridges, and cherry trees. There were also many restaurants. The scene here is possibly from a lookout point where a tea-house was located. Two thick pillars with a hole are visible in this print, through which people try to go. The same tradition is known to exist in the Hall of the Great Buddha, in Nara, or from a scene in “Shank's Mare (Tökaidö Hizakurige),” a comic novel about the misadventures of two travelers written by Jippensha Ikku (1765-1831). The size of the hole is equal to the size of a nostril of the Great Buddha in Nara, and it is believed that going through the hole is very auspicious. (from Kamigata-e exhibition 4/1/08-)

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