
Higashi-dai no oka 東台乃桜花 / Hana bijin meisho awase 花美人名所合
by Ogata Gekko
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Source:
- British Museum
- Image courtesy of
- British Museum
Description
This print from the 'Hana bijin meisho awase' (Matching Famous Places with Beauties and Flowers) series depicts Higashidai no oka, a hill known for its cherry blossoms, pairing a female figure with the sakura viewing season at this named location. The meisho-e framework locates the beauty within a recognizable Tokyo landscape, while the 'awase' (matching) structure creates a formal correspondence between the woman's appearance and the cherry blossom season. The composition likely shows the figure amid or beneath flowering cherry trees rendered with the pale-pink gradated bokashi typical of sakura prints, with the hill's topography providing spatial depth. This series type was characteristic of Meiji publishers' interest in combining bijin-ga commercial appeal with documentary interest in named urban flower-viewing sites.
More Prints by Ogata Gekko

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Onodera Koemon Hidetomi 小野寺幸右衛門秀富 / Gishi shijushichi zu 義士四十七図
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Beauties Harvesting Bracken, from the series Gekkō’s Miscellaney
c. 1886–1899
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Frequently Asked Questions
Higashi-dai no oka 東台乃桜花 / Hana bijin meisho awase 花美人名所合 was created by Ogata Gekko (尾形月耕).
Higashi-dai no oka 東台乃桜花 / Hana bijin meisho awase 花美人名所合 depicts bijin-ga.



