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Yatsubashi — 八ッ橋 by Kajita Hanko — Japanese Woodblock print

Yatsubashi — 八ッ橋

by Kajita Hanko

Meiji/Taishō PrintsShin-hanga
Bridges
Medium:
Woodblock print
Format:
Oban

Description

Yatsubashi — the eight-plank bridge — is a subject with deep roots in Japanese literary and visual culture, most famously associated with the "Azumaji" episode of the Ise Monogatari where the exile Ariwara no Narihira encounters irises blooming beside the zigzag bridges of Mikawa Province. The image of a figure crossing or contemplating a simple plank bridge through an iris marsh became one of the most enduring iconographic subjects in Japanese art. Hanko's version, rendered in the Meiji bijin-ga tradition, likely shows a woman in elegant kimono within this poetic landscape.

More Prints by Kajita Hanko

Man and Woman by Kajita Hanko

Man and Woman

Woodblock print

Mount Karabitsu by Kajita Hanko

Mount Karabitsu

Woodblock print

Japanese Crane by Kajita Hanko

Japanese Crane

Woodblock print

Welcome (Kangei), frontispiece illustration from the literary magazine Bungei kurabu 10, no. 10 by Kajita Hanko

Welcome (Kangei), frontispiece illustration from the literary magazine Bungei kurabu 10, no. 10

Woodblock print

More Bridges Prints

Fair Weather After Snow at Yamato Bridge, Kyoto (Yamato bashi no yukibare), Taishô period, dated 1924 by Kanpo Yoshikawa

Fair Weather After Snow at Yamato Bridge, Kyoto (Yamato bashi no yukibare), Taishô period, dated 1924

Woodblock print

Mount Fuji on a Moonlit Night, Kawai Bridge (Tsukiyo no Fuji [Kawaibashi]), from the series "Selection of Views of the Tokaido (Tokaido fukei senshu)" by Kawase Hasui

Mount Fuji on a Moonlit Night, Kawai Bridge (Tsukiyo no Fuji [Kawaibashi]), from the series "Selection of Views of the Tokaido (Tokaido fukei senshu)"

1947

Color woodblock print; oban

Shin Ohashi Bridge (Shin Ohashi), from the series "Twenty View of Tokyo (Tokyu nijukkei)" by Kawase Hasui

Shin Ohashi Bridge (Shin Ohashi), from the series "Twenty View of Tokyo (Tokyu nijukkei)"

1926

Color woodblock print; oban

Sacred Bridge in Nikko (Nikko Shinkyo) by Kawase Hasui

Sacred Bridge in Nikko (Nikko Shinkyo)

1930

Color woodblock print; oban

Featured in Collections

Curated cross-cuts that include this print.

Shin-Hanga: Japan's Twentieth-Century Print Revival

Frequently Asked Questions

Yatsubashi — 八ッ橋 was created by Kajita Hanko (梶田半古).

Yatsubashi — 八ッ橋 depicts bridges.