Picture Book Sumida River A Glance of Both Shores (Ehon Sumidagawa ryōgan ichiran) in 3 volumes

Picture Book Sumida River A Glance of Both Shores (Ehon Sumidagawa ryogan ichiran) is a three-volume illustrated guide by Katsushika Hokusai to the most celebrated waterway of Edo. Published in 1840, the work surveys the Sumida River from its upper reaches in the north of the city to its mouth at Edo Bay, presenting the embankments, ferries, temples, teahouses, festivals, and entertainments that animated its banks. As a master of Edo ukiyo-e, Hokusai had spent much of his life close to the Sumida and treated it as a continuous social and aesthetic environment, alive with cherry blossom parties at Mukojima, fireworks at Ryogoku Bridge, and the constant traffic of boats. The three volumes unfold the river as a panoramic narrative, allowing readers to travel its length without leaving home. Hokusai uses delicately graded ink and limited tonal accents in the ehon format to capture the play of weather, mist, and light over water, while careful figural staging populates the banks with characteristic Edo types. The ukiyo-e print tradition supported many such illustrated guides to famous places, but Hokusai's Sumida book is distinguished by the breadth of its observation and the assurance of his late draftsmanship. The Harvard Art Museums preserve a fine set of the three volumes. For collectors of Hokusai and of Edo period picture books, Ehon Sumidagawa ryogan ichiran is an essential record of the river that defined his city.