Hayakawa Ayunosuke Damming the Ayukawa River in Order to Strand Fish in the Open Fields

Medium:: Woodblock print
Format:: Oban
Source:: Art of Japan

Typical Price

Uncommon subject or exceptional impression: $2,000–$8,000
Good condition standard print: $500–$2,000
Later impression or common subject: $200–$600

Description

The warrior Hayakawa Ayunosuke employs an ingenious stratagem — damming the Ayukawa River to strand fish in open fields — in a scene that fuses heroic ingenuity with the practical world of fishermen and water management. Kuniyoshi delights in depicting water in motion, and the image likely shows figures wading among stranded fish against a backdrop of diverted current. The subject bridges his warrior-print tradition with genre scenes of labor and natural bounty.

More Prints by Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Yan Qing (Roshi Ensei), from the series "One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Popular Water Margin (Tsuzoku Suikoden goketsu hyakuhachinin no hitori)"

Poem by Abe no Nakamaro, from an untitled series of One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets

Hu Sanniang (Ko Sanjo Ichijosei), from the series "One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Popular Water Margin (Tsuzoku Suikoden goketsu hyakuhachinin no hitori)"

Miya, Kuwana, Yokkaichi, and Ishiyakushi, from the series "Famous Places on the Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido, Four Stations (Tokaido gojusan eki yonshuku meisho)"

More Landscapes Prints

Lake Kugushi in Wakasa Province (Wakasa Kugushiko), from the series Souvenirs of Travel I (Tabi miyage dai isshu)"

Wakasa Kugushiko

1920

Color woodblock print; oban

Autumn Maple Leaves at Takao, from the album Eight Views of Kyoto (Kyôto hakkei)

Woodblock print

The Beach at Kaiganji in Sanuki Province (Sanuki Kaiganji no hama), from the series "Collection of Views of Japan II, Kansai Edition (Nihon fukei shu II Kansai hen)"

1934

Color woodblock print; oban

Tea Kettle, section of a sheet from the series "Mirror of Stone Rubbings of Views of the Provinces" (Kohon meihitsu ishizuri kagami)

n.d.

Woodblock print; ishizuri-e, section of harimaze sheet

Featured in Collections

Curated cross-cuts that include this print.

Mount Fuji in Japanese Woodblock Prints Meisho-e: Famous-Place Prints

Frequently Asked Questions

Hayakawa Ayunosuke Damming the Ayukawa River in Order to Strand Fish in the Open Fields was created by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (歌川国芳).

Hayakawa Ayunosuke Damming the Ayukawa River in Order to Strand Fish in the Open Fields depicts landscapes, fish, and rivers & lakes.