Gion bashi bridge, Asakusa
by Kawase Hasui
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Source:
- Japanese Art Open Database
- Image courtesy of
- Japanese Art Open Database
Description
Hasui's Gion Bridge in Asakusa likely represents the initial or most widely distributed state of this meisho-e composition. Asakusa, Tokyo's historic shitamachi district, offered Hasui a landscape where traditional wooden architecture, waterways, and religious sites coexisted with modern street life. The composition probably frames the bridge as a transitional element between foreground water and a background of low buildings or temple structures, with figures providing scale. Published through the shin-hanga network — likely by Watanabe Shozaburo — the print would have been produced on oban-format washi using five to ten carved woodblocks, with keyblock outlines and successive color blocks applied by skilled baren-pressing artisans following Hasui's original watercolor design.
More Prints by Kawase Hasui
More Landscapes Prints
Lake Kugushi in Wakasa Province (Wakasa Kugushiko), from the series Souvenirs of Travel I (Tabi miyage dai isshu)"
Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Autumn Maple Leaves at Takao, from the album Eight Views of Kyoto (Kyôto hakkei)
Woodblock print
The Beach at Kaiganji in Sanuki Province (Sanuki Kaiganji no hama), from the series "Collection of Views of Japan II, Kansai Edition (Nihon fukei shu II Kansai hen)"
1934
Color woodblock print; oban
Tea Kettle, section of a sheet from the series "Mirror of Stone Rubbings of Views of the Provinces" (Kohon meihitsu ishizuri kagami)
n.d.
Woodblock print; ishizuri-e, section of harimaze sheet
Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
Gion bashi bridge, Asakusa was created by Kawase Hasui (川瀬巴水).
Gion bashi bridge, Asakusa depicts landscapes.