It’s that moment between day and night when the last rays of sunlight are disappearing. A bluish darkness sweeps down from above, while the moon, whose outline is now clear, heralds the arrival of night. Before major land reclamation projects began in Yokohama, many families around the village of Namamugi made a living by collecting shellfish that would be used in a simmered dish called tsukudani. The pile of shells on the ground suggests that the building with the chimney is also processing shellfish. The use of vivid indigo blue in the sky and water and a composition capturing objects both in the foreground and in the distance are conventions inherited from the ukiyo-e prints of the Edo Period (1603–1868). However, instead of the “famous places” depicted in ukiyo-e, one can sense this artist’s attachment to the modest and peaceful daily life in familiar downtown settings.
(HIBINO Miyon)
It’s that moment between day and night when the last rays of sunlight are disappearing. A bluish darkness sweeps down from above, while the moon, whose outline is now clear, heralds the arrival of night. Before major land reclamation projects began in Yokohama, many families around the village of Namamugi made a living by collecting shellfish that would be used in a simmered dish called tsukudani. The pile of shells on the ground suggests that the building with the chimney is also processing shellfish. The use of vivid indigo blue in the sky and water and a composition capturing objects both in the foreground and in the distance are conventions inherited from the ukiyo-e prints of the Edo Period (1603–1868). However, instead of the “famous places” depicted in ukiyo-e, one can sense this artist’s attachment to the modest and peaceful daily life in familiar downtown settings.
(HIBINO Miyon)