27 Utagawa Hiroshige 1797 – 1858 The Village of Yase

publisher: Kawaguchiya Shozo (Shoeido / Eisendo)

The print belongs to the series Kyoto meisho no uchi (Famous Views of Kyoto), published around 1834 by Kawaguchiya Shozo. The series depicts the most renowned landscapes of the imperial city and ranks among Hiroshige’s early landscape cycles, preceding his celebrated Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido.
Prints from this series are rare.

This landscape shows villagers carrying bundles of firewood along a slope overlooking the village of Yase, on the northern outskirts of Kyoto. The scene, rendered in soft color gradations, radiates the calm of late afternoon, while stylized grasses and branches reveal Hiroshige’s distinctive hand. The artist masterfully fuses the simplicity of daily life with the lyrical beauty of the Japanese countryside.