A woman seen from behind holds up the hem of her kimono as she walks. The people crossing the bridge in the distance are holding umbrellas, but no rain drops are visible in the puddle at her feet, so the rain must have just eased. Sunlight seeps through the clouds, transforming the color of the sky, while the surface of the river shimmers.
Kobayashi Kiyochika, who was born the son of a samurai at the end of the Edo Period (1603–1868), became an ukiyo-e artist as the Meiji Era (1868–1912) dawned. Even as a major political shift brought in a new ruling class and cultural artifacts from abroad poured into the country, changes in daily life must have occurred slowly. And thus, as he set about depicting the Sumida River flowing through a town now called Tokyo, and the sun’s rays gradually spreading across the sky after rain, Kiyochika may have thought both were symbols of the Meiji Restoration itself.
(SAKAMOTO Kyoko)
A woman seen from behind holds up the hem of her kimono as she walks. The people crossing the bridge in the distance are holding umbrellas, but no rain drops are visible in the puddle at her feet, so the rain must have just eased. Sunlight seeps through the clouds, transforming the color of the sky, while the surface of the river shimmers.
Kobayashi Kiyochika, who was born the son of a samurai at the end of the Edo Period (1603–1868), became an ukiyo-e artist as the Meiji Era (1868–1912) dawned. Even as a major political shift brought in a new ruling class and cultural artifacts from abroad poured into the country, changes in daily life must have occurred slowly. And thus, as he set about depicting the Sumida River flowing through a town now called Tokyo, and the sun’s rays gradually spreading across the sky after rain, Kiyochika may have thought both were symbols of the Meiji Restoration itself.
(SAKAMOTO Kyoko)