The Tsushima Festival, Owari Province (Owari Tsushima sairei), from the series “One Hundred Famous Views in the Various Provinces (Shokoku meisho hyakkei)”

Art Historical Context

This vibrant color woodblock print captures the lively Tsushima Festival in Owari Province (present-day Aichi Prefecture), part of Utagawa Hiroshige II’s 1859 series “One Hundred Famous Views in the Various Provinces.” Created as Japan opened to broader travel and tourism during the late Edo period, the image highlights a celebrated local celebration, likely featuring processions and festive boats on the river. Hiroshige II, adopted son and artistic heir of the renowned Hiroshige I, continued the master’s tradition of documenting scenic and cultural landmarks across Japan in accessible, serialized formats. Printed in the oban size using multiple carved blocks for rich colors, the work exemplifies ukiyo-e’s technical brilliance and democratic appeal. These affordable prints allowed ordinary people to collect and enjoy views of distant places, fostering a shared sense of national identity and curiosity about regional customs. Today, this impression in the Art Institute of Chicago’s collection preserves a vivid snapshot of mid-nineteenth-century Japanese life and the enduring popularity of festival culture.

About the Artist

Utagawa Hiroshige II (Shigenobu) · 1826–1869

Utagawa Hiroshige II, born Suzuki Chinpei in 1826, was one of the most accomplished ukiyo-e artists of mid-nineteenth century Japan. He entered the studio of the celebrated landscape master Utagawa Hiroshige I — known for his iconic series "The Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido" — and proved himself the most talented of the elder artist's few students. So highly regarded was the young pupil that...