歌川五雲亭貞秀画　『神名川横浜新開港圖』|The Newly Opened Port of Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture (Kanagawa Yokohama shinkaikōzu)

Art Historical Context

Created in the 2nd month of 1860 by Utagawa Sadahide (Gountei Sadahide, 1807–1873), a master of the Ukiyo-e school, *The Newly Opened Port of Yokohama Kanagawa Prefecture* a pivotal moment in Japanese history. This triptych woodblock print known as *nishiki-e* or "brocade picture" for its vibrant inks and colors on paper, measures an expansive 14½ x 29 inches, Sadahide to unfold a panoramic view of bustling activity. As a pupil of Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Sadahide excelled in depicting urban life and landscapes, blending precise linework with lush pigmentation achieved through collaborative woodblock carving. The print commemorates Yokohama's opening as an international port just a year earlier, following Commodore Perry's 1853–54 arrival and the end of Japan's sakoku isolation policy during the late Edo period (1615–1868). It vividly portrays the transformative energy: throngs of crowds, lively markets, ox-drawn carts, and even playful dogs amid ships and foreign influences, symbolizing Japan's rapid encounter with the West. These "Yokohama-e" prints, pioneered by artists like Sadahide, became wildly popular, offering Edo-era viewers a thrilling glimpse of modernity and global exchange. Today, housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Asian Art Department (Bequest of William S. Lieberman, 2005), this work highlights ukiyo-e's role in documenting cultural shifts, inviting us to marvel at the excitement—and tensions—of a nation on the cusp of the Meiji era.

About the Artist

Utagawa (Gountei) Sadahide · 1807–1873

Utagawa Sadahide was born Hashimoto Kenjirō in 1807 in Fusa Province, in the area of modern Chiba Prefecture, Japan. In the 1820s he entered the studio of the enormously prolific and influential master Utagawa Kunisada, becoming one of Kunisada's most prominent pupils and adopting the studio name Sadahide along with the Utagawa school's celebrated lineage. By 1828 his name appeared on a monument l...