Sumiyoshi festival te Tsukudajima Possibly 1891 - 1899

This print of the Sumiyoshi festival at Tsukudajima was made by Utagawa Hiroshige in the mid-19th century. Like all Japanese woodblock prints, it’s a remarkably collaborative and technically demanding achievement. Consider that Hiroshige would have only been responsible for the initial design. Highly skilled carvers then translated the image into a series of woodblocks, one for each color. Finally, printers applied the pigments to paper, with the precision of a machine. The result is not just a picture but a record of collective labor, a testament to craft specialization. Note how Hiroshige’s composition emphasizes flatness. This aesthetic choice reflects the nature of the printing process itself; each color is laid down in a distinct layer. The overall effect is less about illusionism and more about the beauty of the materials – the paper, the ink, the wood. Ultimately, this print invites us to appreciate not just what is depicted, but how it was made, and the cultural values embedded in that process.