#62 Kototoi Bridge
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Source:
- Art of Japan
Key value factors: As self-carved and self-printed works, sosaku-hanga value is tied to the artist's reputation and edition size. Larger formats, earlier editions, and historically significant works command the highest prices.
Number 62 in a numbered series, this woodblock print shows Kototoi Bridge, which spans the Sumida River in the Asakusa area of Tokyo. The bridge's name derives from an ancient poem, and the site has been a favorite subject for artists since the Edo period. Fukazawa depicts the modern steel bridge rather than its wooden predecessors, placing his print firmly in the Showa era when Tokyo's infrastructure was being rebuilt and modernized. The bridge's structural lines cut across the composition, providing geometric counterpoint to the flowing river below. Fukazawa's treatment of water and sky around the industrial form of the bridge suggests an artist finding beauty in the changing face of the capital.
Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Woodblock print
1934
Color woodblock print; oban
n.d.
Woodblock print; ishizuri-e, section of harimaze sheet
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
#62 Kototoi Bridge was created by Sakuichi Fukazawa (深沢索一).
#62 Kototoi Bridge depicts landscapes and bridges.
