Artist:Utagawa Hiroshige
Medium: Woodblock print
Geograhical Locations:
Dates:7th month of 1857
Dimensions: Sheet: 14 1/4 x 9 5/16 in. (36.2 x 23.7 cm) Image: 13 3/8 x 8 3/4 in. (33.9 x 22.2 cm)
Collections:
Exhibitions:
Accession Number: 30.1478.55
Image: 30.1478.55_PS20.jpg,
Catalogue Description: A group of men are carrying the sacred palanquin of the Sumiyoshi Shrine though the water encircling the island of Tsukudajima, at the mouth of the Sumida River. The tiny island of Tsukudajima was claimed by a group of thirty-four whitebait fishermen in 1645-46 who brought with them the name Tsukuda and their local Sumiyoshi divinity, the protector of mariners and fishermen. The festival commemorating this move was held on the twenty-ninth day of the Sixth Month in 1646 and every third year thereafter - including the year in which this print appeared. The celebration of this festival continues today, although the practice of mizu togyo (carrying the shrine through the water), discontinued in 1963. The giant banner in the center is inscribed in archaic script "Sumiyoshi Daimyojin," and the smaller inscriptions to either side show the date and the name of the calligrapher, Seikengu Gengyo, who is the poet and artist Baisotei Gengyo who designed the Table of Contents for this series. The date on the banner is just one month earlier than the publication of the print itself. The banner still remains in the treasury of the Sumiyoshi Shrine. On the right-hand side is a section of a red festival shrine lantern.