25. The Original Fuji in Meguro 1857

Curator: This is Utagawa Hiroshige’s woodblock print, "The Original Fuji in Meguro," created around 1857. It’s part of his renowned series, "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo." Editor: Immediately striking, isn’t it? The tilted pine tree dominates the composition, drawing my eye upward along that hill to a hazy Mount Fuji. There is something serene and lonely about this landscape. Curator: The skewed perspective, actually, is a defining element of Hiroshige's style, what has come to be a common approach in ukiyo-e prints. Here, the pine and the slope not only frame the background scene, but they serve as a conduit into the cultural heart of Edo-period life. Editor: Can you elaborate on that symbolism? How the landscape embodies cultural memory? Curator: The pine tree itself, an auspicious symbol, and, the hill overlooking a convivial picnic below. The carefully designed scenery presents a cultural ideal, even if, by then, the rapid urbanization of Edo had started changing it all. Editor: The red markings, surely calligraphy, on the right side add so much! Were these marks to add or detract from a potential narrative within this historical representation? Curator: Those inscriptions act as both text and design elements. Red seals were used in woodblock prints, providing essential publishing information and branding, which helped promote Hiroshige's unique compositions. The artist would need to meet publishing and societal demand in order to continue his creative vision. Editor: It is incredible how landscape art could play such an integral role within burgeoning Japanese media of the era! Hiroshige captures an intimacy between figures, culture and nature which, even at this distance in time, affects our emotional perception. The original, indeed. Curator: Absolutely, the enduring power of this image resides in that emotional bridge it builds—across cultures and across time. By embracing, and reframing what’s at the base of identity, these moments survive for future generations to build upon.