Yatsubashi — 八ッ橋

Medium:: Woodblock print
Format:: Oban
Source:: Japanese Art Open Database

Typical Price

$500–$4,000. Common prints: $500–$1,500. Key value factors: Hanko's refined nihonga-style prints bridge traditional painting and modern printmaking. His early death at 47 limits available works.

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](/glossary/bijin-ga) tradition, likely shows a woman in elegant kimono within this poetic landscape.