Hanga
- by Kobayashi Kiyochika — Japanese Woodblock print

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by Kobayashi Kiyochika

Medium:
Woodblock print
Image courtesy of
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Description

A characteristic Meiji-period urban landscape by Kiyochika, this oban-format print likely records a specific Tokyo district undergoing rapid transformation in the 1870s or 1880s. Kiyochika frequently depicted bridges, riverbanks, and newly constructed Western-style buildings alongside older Edo structures, using the juxtaposition to comment visually on cultural change. His compositional approach drew on both Hiroshige's meisho-e tradition and Western perspective conventions learned through oil painting study. Atmospheric effects — fog, smoke from steamships, haze over the Sumida River — appear as diffused tonal transitions rather than sharp outlines, a hallmark of his printmaking technique.

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Frequently Asked Questions

- was created by Kobayashi Kiyochika (小林清親).