Ryogoku Bridge

Ryogoku Bridge

Utagawa Toyoharu, early 19th century

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Artist: Utagawa Toyoharu (Japanese, 1735–1814)
Medium: Ink and color on silk
Size: H x W (image): 72.6 × 186 cm (28 9/16 × 73 1/4 in)
Museum: Smithsonian Institution
Rights: CC0 — no rights reserved

Spanning the broad Sumida River, the Ryogoku Bridge was a popular site for entertainment in Edo (modern Tokyo). In this detailed panoramic view, the artist Toyoharu focuses on activities along the west bank of the river, where people representing many classes of society and whose status is distinguished by their dress, stroll to and from the bridge along a roadway lined with shops. Pleasure boats make their way beneath the bridge.

The pagoda and roof of the Sensoji, a temple in Asakusa dedicated to the Buddhist deity Kannon, appears in the distance to the left of the bridge. Although space is compressed in this view, the artist endeavored to render a contemporary scene with realism and accuracy. He employs some of the principles of perspective found in European art that had begun to interest Japanese artists beginning in the eighteenth century.

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Visually similar

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