Evening at Kiyamachi during the Daimonji Festival

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

Typical Price

$300–$2,500. Snow and night scenes tend to command premium prices for this artist. Key value factors: Yoshikawa's costume and maiko prints are valued for their scholarly accuracy and artistic refinement.

Description

Evening at Kiyamachi during the Daimonji Festival captures one of Kyoto's most iconic summer events as seen from the entertainment district along the Takase Canal. The Daimonji Gozan Okuribi, held each August 16th, involves the lighting of enormous bonfires in the shape of kanji characters on the mountains surrounding Kyoto. Yoshikawa positions the viewer among the crowds along Kiyamachi-dori, where restaurants, teahouses, and bars line the narrow canal, their patrons spilling outside to watch the distant fires burning on the mountainsides. The contrast between the warm lantern light of the street and the orange glow of the bonfire characters against the dark mountain slopes creates a composition structured around multiple light sources. The festival marks the end of Obon, bidding farewell to ancestral spirits.