Hiroshige transformed Japanese landscape printing through his mastery of bokashi (gradated wash) technique and sensitivity to weather, season, and light. His atmospheric landscapes directly influenced Impressionist painters in Europe after Japanese prints reached the West in the 1860s.
At Kanagawa station on the Tokaido, the road climbed to a ridge above Edo Bay, and teahouses at the top of the slope offered travelers one of the finest views on the entire highway — the bay stretching east toward the open sea with distant hills beyond. This color woodblock print, titled "Inland Sea: Top of the Street," captures the teahouse district perched on the bluff, figures pausing to take in the coastal panorama.
Woodblock print
1928
Color lithograph
1930
Color lithograph
1948
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Kanagawa, Inland Sea: Top of the Street was created by Utagawa Hiroshige (歌川広重) in 1797–1858.
Kanagawa, Inland Sea: Top of the Street depicts urban scenes and seascapes, set at Seto Inland Sea.
Kanagawa, Inland Sea: Top of the Street measures 34.6 × 22.3 cm (Oban format).
