Minakuchi

Ando Hiroshige 

Minakuchi: Drying Strips of Gourd, circa 1833 - 1834. Series; Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Hoeido). These classic designs were produced by the well known Tokyo publisher Oedo Mokuhansha amidst a resurgence of interest in ukiyo-e in the early 1950s.

Interesting view of the village of Minakuchi, a small stop on the Tokaido Road following the mountainous Tsuchiyama region. In the foreground, three women are at work preparing kampyo (dried slices of gourd) to sell to travelers, cutting thin strips and hanging them to dry. At right, another woman drapes gourd strips along a section of bamboo fence in front of the thatched roofed houses of the village. Distant mountains appear in soft blue silhouette. Nicely detailed and shaded.

Condition: Margins as shown, great condition, not backed.

Date: 1950s