Autumn Moon over the Tama River - After Utagawa Hiroshige

Artist: Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858)

Title: Autumn Moon over the Tama River (Tamagawa Shūgetsu)

Series: Eight Views in the Environs of Edo (Edo Kinkō Hakkei no Uchi)

Original Design Date: c. 1837–1838

Original Publisher: Sanoya Kihei (Kikakudō)

Reprint Publisher: Daiichi Kōgei

Edition: 20th-century Shōwa-period recarved edition

Medium: Genuine Japanese color woodblock print

Format: Ōban yoko-e

Paper Size: [add exact dimensions]

This genuine Japanese woodblock print is a 20th-century Daiichi Kōgei reproduction of Hiroshige’s Autumn Moon over the Tama River, from his celebrated series Eight Views in the Environs of Edo. The original design was published by Sanoya Kihei around 1837–38. The red Daiichi Kōgei-ban inscription in the lower left margin identifies this impression as a later recarved edition rather than an Edo-period printing. The original design and publisher are documented by the Edo-Tokyo Museum and Art Institute of Chicago.

Autumn Moon over the Tama River presents one of Hiroshige’s most lyrical views of the landscape surrounding Edo. A full moon hangs above a large willow tree as the Tama River winds quietly through the composition. Small figures gather along the banks while a narrow boat crosses the water, giving scale to the broad, open landscape. The deep blue sky gradually fades toward the horizon, while the moon, distant mountains, reeds, and leaning willow create an unusually peaceful evening scene.

The poetry across the sky is an important part of the composition. Early impressions of the design were issued with several kyōka poems, while later states sometimes contain fewer poems. This reproduction preserves the multiple-poem arrangement associated with early impressions of the design.

Inscriptions & Marks:

• Artist: Utagawa Hiroshige
• Title: Tamagawa Shūgetsu (玉川秋月), “Autumn Moon over the Tama River”
• Series: Edo Kinkō Hakkei no Uchi (江戸近郊八景之内), “Eight Views in the Environs of Edo”
• Original publisher: Sanoya Kihei
• Reprint publisher: Daiichi Kōgei
• Red Daiichi Kōgei edition mark in lower left margin
• Hiroshige signature and seals reproduced from the original design
• Multiple kyōka poems reproduced across the upper portion of the composition
• Genuine carved-and-printed Japanese woodblock reproduction

Condition: Very Good. Full margins with light overall toning and minor scattered foxing and surface marks consistent with age. Minor handling wear to the margins. Colors remain strong, with particularly attractive blue gradation in the sky and water. 

About the Artist: Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858) was one of the greatest masters of Japanese woodblock printmaking and the artist most closely associated with landscape ukiyo-e. Best known for his poetic depictions of travel, changing seasons, weather, and the quiet beauty of everyday life, Hiroshige transformed familiar places into deeply atmospheric works through his masterful use of composition and color. His celebrated series, including The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō and One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, became some of the most influential prints ever produced in Japan.

About the Series: Eight Views in the Environs of Edo was published around 1837–38 and is considered one of Hiroshige’s finest early landscape series. Its eight designs adapt the traditional “Eight Views” theme—originally derived from Chinese poetry and painting—to locations around Edo. The series includes scenes associated with autumn moonlight, evening snow, returning sails, descending geese, evening bells, and other atmospheric subjects. The Library of Congress describes the set as one of the outstanding achievements among Hiroshige’s landscape prints.

Autumn Moon over the Tama River is one of the best-known designs from the set and is held in major museum collections, including the Art Institute of Chicago and the Edo-Tokyo Museum. The quiet river, enormous sky, and luminous moon show Hiroshige at his best: human activity is present, but small and temporary within a much larger landscape.

About this Edition: This impression is not an Edo-period printing. The red Daiichi Kōgei mark in the lower left margin identifies it as a later Japanese reproduction. Daiichi Kōgei editions were genuine woodblock prints produced from newly carved blocks after historic ukiyo-e designs rather than photomechanical reproductions. For a sales listing, I would conservatively describe this as a 20th-century Shōwa-period Daiichi Kōgei recarved edition unless documentation establishing a more precise publication date is available.