 |
 |
 |
Kanagawa Gongenyama gaikokujin yūran Title: Foreigners Visiting the Famous Site of Mount Gongen in Kanagawa Artist: Yoshikazu (fl. ca. 1850-70) 1861:2 Format: Woodblock print Medium: Ink and color on paper Dimensions: triptych: 36.5 x73.8 cm (14 3/8 x29 1/16 in.) Source: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution Dominating the foreground of this scenic landscape of Gongenyama, a bluff overlooking the town of Kanagawa, is a group of foreign men, women, and children, and a pet dog. One of the women rides a horse, a sight that was astonishing in Japan, where women did not ride. Japanese cultivators beside the road and a Japanese woman and her children pause to stare at the sightseers. To the left of the promontory, a label identifies the town of Kanagawa. In the distance, across the harbor, are large steamships anchored near Yokohama. At the top of Gongenyama several foreign men use a telescope to look across the bay. Although the foreigners in Yoshikazu's prints have been adapted from his study of Western illustrations, the artist has created a credible portrayal of a sightseeing excursion. Kanagawa remained the site of foreign diplomatic residences for some time after the opening of Yokohama and continued to have a significant foreign community. [Adapted from Ann Yonemura, Yokohama: Prints from Nineteenth-Century Japan] Visualizing Cultures image number: Y0135 Keywords: Westerners, animals, foreign children, Kanagawa, sightseeing, horseback riding |
On viewing images of a potentially disturbing nature: click here. |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology © 2014 Visualizing Cultures |