Fukuroi: Kites - Utagawa Hiroshige

A mid-nineteenth-century woodblock print by Utagawa Hiroshige depicting kites flying over the Fukuroi station. Part of the Reisho Tōkaidō series, it features a large kite decorated with a lion-dog and peonies.

This woodblock print is part of the Reisho Tōkaidō series, published between 1847 and 1852. It depicts Fukuroi, the twenty-seventh station on the Tōkaidō road. The series takes its name from the reisho (clerical) style of calligraphy used for the titles in the red cartouches. Unlike Hiroshige's earlier Hoeidō edition which focused on a roadside tea stall, this version focuses on the open sky and the seasonal activity of kite flying.

A large rectangular kite dominates the upper left corner. It bears a design of a shishi (lion-dog) and peonies, symbols of power and nobility. Two smaller kites, one circular and one diamond-shaped, float further away. The thin lines of the kite strings criss-cross the upper half of the composition, creating a sense of depth and movement against the blue sky. The artist uses a deep Prussian blue at the top of the frame, which fades into a lighter tone through the bokashi technique.

Below the kites, a narrow path winds through green rice paddies towards a cluster of buildings. Small figures of travellers walk along the trail, including a man carrying a load on a pole. A small bridge crosses a stream in the lower left. Hiroshige includes several types of trees, such as tall pines and a weeping willow, to define the space of the marshy plain. A horizontal band of pale orange at the horizon suggests the light of early morning or late afternoon. The use of colour gradation in the sky and water is characteristic of mid-nineteenth-century Japanese printing techniques. The composition relies on the contrast between the large, detailed kite in the foreground and the expansive, quiet landscape below.