Nachi Waterfall (Nachi no taki), from the series Scenes of Famous Places along the Tôkaidô Road (Tôkaidô meisho fûkei), also known as the Processional Tôkaidô (Gyôretsu Tôkaidô), here called Tôkaidô meisho no uchi
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Source:
- Museum of Fine Arts Boston
- Image courtesy of
- Museum of Fine Arts Boston
Description
This impression of Nachi Waterfall from the Tôkaidô meisho no uchi series presents the sacred cascade of the Kumano coast, a site embedded in Japanese religious geography since the Heian period. Nachi no Taki drops uninterrupted from a height of 133 meters, making it visually unlike any other waterfall subject in the meisho-e canon — its verticality and scale demanded compositional decisions distinct from the horizontally flowing rivers and coastal panoramas that dominate most Tôkaidô series. Kyosai's printmaking, even when working within established series formats, carries traces of his ink-painting fluency: areas of graduated bokashi shading suggest the mist that perpetually surrounds the falls' base, while the white column of water itself is achieved through careful reserve printing on the washi sheet. Pilgrimage associations and the presence of the vermillion Hiryû torii at the falls' base gave this subject both devotional weight and pictorial drama.
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Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nachi Waterfall (Nachi no taki), from the series Scenes of Famous Places along the Tôkaidô Road (Tôkaidô meisho fûkei), also known as the Processional Tôkaidô (Gyôretsu Tôkaidô), here called Tôkaidô meisho no uchi was created by Kawanabe Kyosai (河鍋暁斎).
Yes — Nachi Waterfall (Nachi no taki), from the series Scenes of Famous Places along the Tôkaidô Road (Tôkaidô meisho fûkei), also known as the Processional Tôkaidô (Gyôretsu Tôkaidô), here called Tôkaidô meisho no uchi is part of the Scenes of Famous Places along the Tôkaidô Road series by Kawanabe Kyosai.
Nachi Waterfall (Nachi no taki), from the series Scenes of Famous Places along the Tôkaidô Road (Tôkaidô meisho fûkei), also known as the Processional Tôkaidô (Gyôretsu Tôkaidô), here called Tôkaidô meisho no uchi depicts landscapes, tōkaidō, and famous places (meisho-e).