-Triptych of Snow Viewing by the Sumida River c. 1834

Utagawa Hiroshige created this Triptych of Snow Viewing by the Sumida River, a woodblock print, sometime in the mid-19th century. Hiroshige was a master of ukiyo-e prints, a genre that flourished during the Edo period. This work captures a group of figures enjoying the winter landscape along the Sumida River. It is a scene of leisure, but it also reveals a structured society. The figures are likely members of the merchant class, who had gained enough economic power to enjoy such outings. The Sumida River itself had become a popular leisure spot, a place where the rigid social structures of Edo society could be momentarily relaxed. But who had access to these spaces of leisure? How did class and gender affect one's experience of the landscape? Hiroshige’s work invites us to reflect on the intersections of nature, society, and identity in 19th century Japan.