Print & drawing
Evening on the Chikugo River
Yoshida Hiroshi
1927
Associated place: Japan
A few golden windows and their reflections interrupt the deep blue of the river.
A journey through the collections
Japan, after dark
Moonlight, falling snow and rain-darkened water in eight Japanese woodblock prints.
Follow a small light through these prints: a window reflected in a river, a pale moon above the shore, snow against a dark sky. Works by Hiroshige, Yoshida Hiroshi, Kyōsai and Hokusai offer different ways of giving darkness a shape.
Follow a work
Print & drawing
Eight Views of Kanazawa at Night
Utagawa Hiroshige
1857
Associated place: Japan
The view stretches across three sheets. Islands, boats and the full moon hold the wide composition together.
Print & drawing
Evening Snow at Kambara (number sixteen of the series Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido)
Utagawa Hiroshige
1833
Associated place: Japan
White roofs and branches make the dark sky feel deeper; the travellers remain small within the snow.
Print & drawing
Night Rain at Karasaki, from Eight Views of Ōmi
Utagawa Hiroshige
c. 1835
Associated place: Japan
Fine vertical rain softens the outline of the great tree beside the water.
Print & drawing
Full Moon with Crow on Plum Branch
Kawanabe Kyōsai
1880s
Associated place: Japan
A crow’s silhouette crosses the pale moon, balanced by the thin curves of the plum branch.
Print & drawing
Night Rain at the Azuma Shrine (from the series Eight Views of the Environs of Edo)
Utagawa Hiroshige
mid-1830s
Associated place: Japan
Slanting rain runs across the whole scene, joining the figures, trees and distant shore.
Print & drawing
The Moon-Viewing Promontory, from One Hundred Views of Famous Places in Edo
Utagawa Hiroshige
1857
Associated place: Japan
The room’s strong verticals frame a distant moon, turning the landscape into a view through a doorway.
Print & drawing
The Minister Toru Daijin Standing by a Lake Beneath a Crescent Moon, from the series A True Mirror of Chinese and Japanese Poetry
Katsushika Hokusai
1834–35
Associated place: Japan
The narrow format carries the eye from the figure below towards the crescent high above.