The Sumida River in Winter Snow (Fuyu Sumidagawa no yuki) is part of Utagawa Hiroshige's series Famous Places in Edo in the Four Seasons (Shiki Koto meisho), produced around 1834 and preserved in the Art Institute of Chicago. The Sumida River was central to the cultural geography of Edo, a waterway used for transport, for cherry-blossom viewing in spring, and for fireworks in summer, and Hiroshige repeatedly returned to its banks throughout his career. In this winter view he stages the river under heavy snowfall, with banks, trees, and the silhouettes of moored boats softened beneath fresh accumulation. The composition relies on the contrast between the dark expanse of water and the pale, almost untouched paper of the snow-covered ground, a visual strategy that captures the muffled quiet of an Edo morning after a storm. Small figures, perhaps boatmen or travelers wrapped against the cold, animate the middle ground without disrupting the prevailing stillness. As an Edo ukiyo-e landscape print, the design embodies the meisho-e tradition's interest in seasonal change, treating the Sumida not as a fixed location but as a place whose character shifts with the calendar. The bokashi gradation along the horizon and the carefully cut linework of bare branches show the technical sophistication of the woodblock workshops that translated Hiroshige's painted drafts into print form. The four-seasons framing also positions the work within a wider literary and pictorial tradition that tied poetic mood to specific months, encouraging viewers to read the image as part of an annual cycle of Edo's most beloved sights.
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.
The Sumida River in Winter Snow (Fuyu Sumidagawa no yuki), from the series "Famous Places in Edo in the Four Seasons (Shiki Koto meisho)" was created by Utagawa Hiroshige (歌川広重) in 1834/35.
Yes — The Sumida River in Winter Snow (Fuyu Sumidagawa no yuki), from the series "Famous Places in Edo in the Four Seasons (Shiki Koto meisho)" is part of the Famous Places in Edo in the Four Seasons (Shiki Koto meisho) series by Utagawa Hiroshige.
The Sumida River in Winter Snow (Fuyu Sumidagawa no yuki), from the series "Famous Places in Edo in the Four Seasons (Shiki Koto meisho)" depicts landscapes, winter, and famous places (meisho-e).
