Shinbashi
- Date:
- c. 1914–1916
- Medium:
- Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
- Dimensions:
- 38.9 × 25.9 cm
- Edition:
- Self-printed
- Source:
- Minneapolis Institute of Art
Description
This ink and color woodblock print from circa 1914-1916 presents the Shinbashi district, a pivotal location in Tokyo's modernization as the site of Japan's first railway station, opened in 1872. By the 1910s, Shinbashi had evolved into an entertainment quarter known for its geisha houses and Western-style restaurants, a place where old Edo culture and Meiji modernity collided. Hakutei captures this layered character, rendering the district's architecture and street activity with the observational precision of a painter working en plein air, translated into the carved wood and hand-printed pigment of the sosaku-hanga method. The print belongs to the productive period of the mid-1910s when Hakutei was systematically recording Tokyo's neighborhoods, building a visual archive of a city on the brink of transformation.
More Prints by Ishii Hakutei
More Urban Scenes Prints
A Hundred Shades of Ink of Edo: Kiyonaga's Pipe (Edo zumi hyaku shoku: Kiyonaga no kiseru)
Woodblock print
View of Kabuki Theater from Matsuya (Ginza Matsuya yori Kabukiza), no. 3 from the series "Pictures of Ginza, First Series (Gashu Ginza dai isshu)"
1928
Color lithograph
Distant View of Mitsukoshi Movie Theater in Shinjuku from the Sixth Floor of Hoteiya (Hoteiya rokkai kara Shinjuku Mitsukoshi Musashi no kan enbo zu), no. 1 from the series "Scenery of Shinjuku (Gashu Shinjuku fukei)"
1930
Color lithograph
Spring Dusk at the Tōshō Shrine in Ueno
1948
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
Shinbashi was created by Ishii Hakutei (石井柏亭) in c. 1914–1916.
Shinbashi depicts urban scenes, bijin-ga, and daily life.
Shinbashi measures 38.9 × 25.9 cm.