Asakusa Festival (Asakusa matsuri), from the illustrated book "Picture Book of Amusements of the East (Ehon Azuma asobi)"

Date:: c. 1802
Medium:: Color woodblock print; double-page illustration from book
Format:: Oban
Source:: Art Institute of Chicago

Typical Price

Reproduction or loose page (20th-century): $50–$300
Later Edo-period volume or leaf (some wear): $500–$3,000
Good earlier Edo-period impression (clean binding or leaf): $3,000–$15,000
Fine early Edo-period volume (original binding, vivid color): $15,000–$50,000

Hokusai's illustrated books and albums span six decades and showcase the full range of his genius. Hokusai Manga (15 volumes, 1814–1878) original volumes sell for $2,000–$15,000 each; complete sets can reach $30,000–$80,000.

Description

The great Asakusa Matsuri — the annual festival of Senso-ji temple, one of Edo's most spectacular public celebrations — fills this double-page spread from the illustrated book Ehon Azuma asobi (Picture Book of Amusements of the East), published around 1802. The composition sweeps across a broad horizontal field, capturing the parade of mikoshi portable shrines and the surge of festival crowds along the temple approach.

More Prints by Katsushika Hokusai

The Fishermen of Katase Hauling in Their Nets: The Purple Shell (Murasakigai)

1821

Color woodblock print with metallic pigments; surimono shikishiban

Burdock Root (Kurama gobo), from the series "A Selection of Horses (Uma-zukushi)"

1822

Color woodblock print; shikishiban, surimono

Horse Shells (Umagai), from the series "A Selection of Horses (Uma-zukushi)"

1822

Color woodblock print; shikishiban, surimono

Orange Orchids, from an untitled series of flowers

c. 1832

Color woodblock print; oban

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.

Mount Fuji in Japanese Woodblock Prints Meisho-e: Famous-Place Prints

Frequently Asked Questions

Asakusa Festival (Asakusa matsuri), from the illustrated book "Picture Book of Amusements of the East (Ehon Azuma asobi)" was created by Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾北斎) in c. 1802.

Asakusa Festival (Asakusa matsuri), from the illustrated book "Picture Book of Amusements of the East (Ehon Azuma asobi)" depicts urban scenes, landscapes, and temples & shrines, set at Asakusa.