Artist: Katsushika Hokusai

Title: Senju in Musashi Province

Date: c. 1830 - 1834

Details: More information...

Source: Honolulu Museum of Art
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Description:

The print represents a view of Mount Fuji from Senjû, the northern suburb of Edo. The river, which rises in the Kantö Mountains, changes name over its course. In this area, some miles upstream, it was called the Arakawa River. Fuji is seen here across the Arakawa beyond rice fields in the middle ground. Although not represented in the print, the so-named Great Bridge spanned the Arakawa at Senju, where the highway to Mutsu province in the far north originated. Senju was thus a gateway to the north, with its streets full of inns, shops, restaurants, and travelers. In the foreground, on the bank of a canal leading to Arakawa, a horseman appears, leading his aging, tired horse. Momentarily he gazes at the beautiful cone of Fuji. Two seated men are fishing at the edge of the canal. Hokusai's usual geometric treatment of his composition is obvious in this print. The horse's bent stance resembles the triangle of Fuji, and the weighted rein draws a line that echoes the rise and fall of the rounded hills. The rectangular elements of the flood-gate (suimon) rise to make a screen for the river and for Fuji. The print is also evocative; one cannot help feeling empathy for the tired horse. The turtle, its tail tied to the rein, may be one that the horseman caught on the way to take home as his children’s pet. The key-block was printed in blue. (The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, HOKUSAI AND HIROSHIGE – Great Japanese Prints from the James A. Michener Collection, Honolulu Academy of Arts: The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, 1998 Page 61. Cat. 12) - - - - - - - - - - - -

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