Ochanomizu — the "tea water" district in Kanda where the Kanda River cuts through a rocky gorge — was one of Tokyo's most atmospheric urban landscapes, its stone embankments and overhanging trees a striking contrast to the flat river margins of the Sumida. Kiyochika depicts it on a summer evening when fireflies would gather along the cool, shaded waterway — the title's fireflies (hotaru) signalling a scene of seasonal enchantment in what was already becoming an increasingly built-up urban district by the 1870s.
Nikko Chuzenjiko
1930
Color woodblock print; oban
Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Niigata Gosaibori
1921
Color woodblock print; oban
Woodblock print
Fireflies at Ochanomizu — 御茶水螢 was created by Kobayashi Kiyochika (小林清親).
Fireflies at Ochanomizu — 御茶水螢 depicts rivers & lakes, night scenes, and insects.
