Twelve Views of Tokyo: Mukojima

Mukojima (向島), located on the east bank of the Sumida River in what is now Sumida Ward, was celebrated in both Edo-period and Taishō-era culture for its cherry trees (sakura) lining the embankment, its riverside teahouses, and its association with the pleasure culture of old Tokyo. Hakutei's depiction of Mukojima in the Twelve Views of Tokyo series would have confronted this accumulated cultural imagery, either engaging with the cherry blossom tradition directly or seeking a less familiar view of the district's marshland margins and low wooden architecture. The Sumida River, visible from or defining Mukojima's western edge, offered strong compositional possibilities: the broad horizontal of the river surface, the silhouettes of moored craft, and the distant Tokyo cityscape on the opposite bank. Hakutei's training in Western perspective would have shaped how he handled this water panorama, while his sosaku-hanga commitment meant rendering the full complexity of the scene through his own carved blocks.