Plum-blossom viewing in the third month at Sumida River - Utagawa Hiroshige

A mid-19th-century woodblock print by Utagawa Hiroshige depicting women and a child walking beneath flowering plum trees along the Sumida River in Edo.

Utagawa Hiroshige produced this woodblock print as part of his series Annual Events at Famous Places in the Eastern Capital. The work dates to the mid-1840s during the Tenpō era. It captures a specific seasonal activity in Edo, which is modern-day Tokyo. The third month of the lunar calendar marked the beginning of spring and the traditional time for viewing flowering trees. This practice was a common social event for residents of the city. The composition features two women accompanied by a child walking along the banks of the Sumida River. The woman in the foreground wears a kimono with vertical blue and green stripes. Her companion follows in a blue robe decorated with a white repeating pattern and a yellow patterned sash. A small child is partially visible at their feet, looking up toward the adults. A large plum tree stands on the right side of the image. Its thick trunk is textured with dark ink strokes to suggest bark. The branches reach over the figures and are covered in pink blossoms. In the background, the Sumida River stretches across the horizontal plane. Several small boats are positioned on the water, including a ferry and smaller skiffs. The far bank shows a line of buildings and trees silhouetted against the horizon. Hiroshige used the bokashi technique to create the colour gradients in the sky. The tones shift from a warm yellow near the ground to a dark Prussian blue at the top edge. This method provides a sense of distance and light without using Western perspective rules. The print includes cartouches for the series title and the specific location. A separate red cartouche contains the artist's signature.