Why shift from figural prints to depictions of landscape?

•  aniline dyes (example of Prussian Blue)

•  censorship laws (Utamaro jailed and heavily fined in 1805 for a series parodies of the early Tokugawa shogun)

•  continuing development of the cult of Mount Fuji 富士山

•  tourism

•  new ideas about the imagined community

Hokusai 北斎 (1760-1849)

•  One Hundred Ghost Stories.   c. 1830.   Polychrome woodblock print. [Mason, fig. 332]

•  Manga 漫画 (cartoons). c. 1830.   Woodblock-printed books.

•  Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji.   c. 1830. Polychrome woodblock print.   [Mason, fig. 331]

•  Waterfall series. Polychrome woodblock prints; 38 x 25.5 cm.

cf.   Ma Yuan 馬遠 (Chinese court painter active 1190-1224).   On a Mountain Path in Spring .   Silk; 27.4 x 143.1 cm.

cf.   Tawaraya Sotatsu.   Nobles viewing the Nunobiki Waterfall .   C. 1634-43.   Color on paper; 25 x 21 cm.   RINPA school

Hiroshige 広重 (1797-1858)

•  One Hundred Famous Views of Edo .   1857.

cf.   Vincent van Gogh, Japonaiserie:   The Bridge.   1886-1888.   Oil on canvas; 55 x 46 cm.

cf.   Vincent Van Gogh.   Japonaiserie:   Tree in Bloom.   1886-1888.   Oil on canvas.

•  Fifty-three Stations of the Tôkaidô.   1834.   Polychrome woodblock print.   [Mason, fig. 334] Stations:   #26 Mariko; #44 Yokaichi; #46 Shono Way; #55 Sanjo Bridge

The Tôkaidô 東海道

The breeze murmuring through the pines on a beautiful spring day sounds like one singing to the harp of how the pine trees at the gate bring wealth, freedom, and happiness…Now is the time to visit all the celebrated places in the country and fill our heads with what we have seen, so that when we become old and bald we shall have something to talk about over the teacups.

Ikku Jippensha (1765-1831), Shank's Mare

SEE http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~johnxyz/hiroshige/tokaido_editions/tokaido_editions.htm