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 Shimabara, Kyoto's licensed pleasure quarter, a solitary willow tree stood at the gateway separating the quarter's world from the street outside. This [oban](/glossary/oban) print from the "Famous Views of Kyoto" series captures the iconic tree in its setting — its trailing branches framing the gate, townspeople passing beneath. The willow had accumulated layers of literary and artistic association, making it a charged symbol of the quarter's boundary between fantasy and ordinary life.
Woodblock print
1928
Color lithograph
1930
Color lithograph
1948
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
The Willow Tree at the Gate of Shimabara Pleasure Quarter (Shimabara deguchi no yanagi), from the series “Famous Views of Kyoto (Kyoto meisho no uchi)" was created by Utagawa Hiroshige (歌川広重) in c. 1834.
Yes — The Willow Tree at the Gate of Shimabara Pleasure Quarter (Shimabara deguchi no yanagi), from the series “Famous Views of Kyoto (Kyoto meisho no uchi)" is part of the Famous Views of Kyoto (Kyoto meisho no uchi) series by Utagawa Hiroshige.
The Willow Tree at the Gate of Shimabara Pleasure Quarter (Shimabara deguchi no yanagi), from the series “Famous Views of Kyoto (Kyoto meisho no uchi)" depicts urban scenes, landscapes, and kyoto, set at Kyoto.
