Tsukigare Plum Orchard, from the series Famous Sights of Japan (Nihon meishô zue), Meiji period, dated 1896-1897?

From the series Nihon meishô zue (Famous Sights of Japan), published circa 1896–1897, this print depicts a plum orchard at Tsukigare—a meisho-e subject type with roots in the classical tradition of poetically significant place-names. Kiyochika brings to the meisho-e genre his developed sensitivity to seasonal light and atmospheric conditions: a plum orchard in late winter or early spring yields a spare composition in which bare or barely blossoming branches catch a cold, clear light distinct from the warmer pink tones associated with cherry blossom imagery in the same tradition. The Famous Sights series represents Kiyochika's mature engagement with the topographic print format established by predecessors including Hiroshige, applying his atmospheric technique to sites beyond the Tokyo metropolitan area he had documented in his celebrated 1870s series. Graduated bokashi in the sky and careful tonal gradation of the orchard ground would render the distinctive atmospheric quality of a late winter day in the Kanto countryside.