No.9 "Oiso: Tora's Rain" from the series Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido
Fine Arts The Japanese Prints: Ancient and Modern
Item Info
Source: Print and Picture Collection
Notes:
"Oiso was a coastal village a little more than a mile and a half from Hiratsuka. Though today it is a favorite location for summer houses, its scenery seems to have been depressing to the Japanese of the past, for there are several mournful poems about it, and it was the setting of a tear-inspiring Kabuki play about a prostitute named Tora and her motherly love for her child. Hiroshige's print has an inscription whcih reads, 'The Rain of Tora,' and which is doubtless a refernce to Tora's weepng. By using dark colors in more of the picture and making the sea light, Hiroshige succeeded admirably in capturing the feeling of a passing shower."
from "The Fifty-Three Stages of the Tokaido by Hiroshige", Tokyo, Japan. Heibonsha Ltd., Publishers, 1960. plate 9
https://catalog.freelibrary.org/Record/125651
Notes:
note card with print
Station 9
Oiso: Rain on May 28. Famous in poetry and legend, Oiso figures also in the Soga Monogatari ("The Tale of the Two Soga Brothers"), for it was here that the beautiful courtesan, Toragozen, lived. Required to part with her lover, one of the borthers, Toragozen shed copious and bitter tears, but on May 28, 1193, the day the bothers succeeded in avenging the death of their father, Toragozen's tears were changed to rain. Even today, it is said that the rain always alls on the 28th day of the month. Despite this unhappy fact, Oiso is now a popular beach resort, and the thatched cottages seen in the print have been replaced by summer villas.
Bibliography:
https://catalog.freelibrary.org/Record/125651
https://catalog.freelibrary.org/Record/370941
https://catalog.freelibrary.org/Record/703108
https://www.hiroshige.org.uk/Tokaido_Series/Tokaido_Great.htm
Creation Year: ca. 1833
Image Dimensions Width: 23 cm
Call Number: Woodblock Prints - The Fifty-three Stations of the T?kaid? Road
Creator Name: Hiroshige, Utagawa, 1797-1858 - Artist
No.1 "Nihonbashi: Morning Scene" from the series Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido 
No.4 "Kanagawa: View of the Embankment" from the series Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido 
No. 6 "Totsuka motomachi Fork" from the series Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido 
No.7 "Fujisawa: Yugyoji" from the series Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido 
No.9 "Oiso: Tora's Rain" from the series Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido
No.10 "Odawara: Sakawa River" from the series Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido 
No.11 "Hakone" from the series Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido 
No. 14 Hara: Mount Fuji in the Morning from the series Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido 
No. 15 Yoshiwara: Fuji on the Left from the series Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido 
No. 16 "Night Snow" from the series Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido 
No. 18 "Okitsu: Okitsu River" from the series Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido 
No.26 "Nissaka: Sayo Moutain Pass" from the series Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido 
No.27 Kakegawa: View of Akiba from the series Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido 
No.28 "Outdoor Tea-stall at Fukuroi" from the series Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido 
No. 31 "Maisaka: Veiw of Imagiri" from the series Fifty-Three stations of the Tokaido 
No.32 "Arai: Ferry Boats" from the series Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido 
No. 35 "Yoshida: The Toyokawa River Bridge" from the series Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido 
No. 37 "Akasaka: Inn with Serving Maids" from the series Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido 
No.38 "Fujikawa: Scene at Post Outskirts" from the series Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido 
No.41 "Narumi: Famous Cloth of Arimatsu" from the series Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido 
No.43 "Kuwana: Shichiri Crossing" from the series Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido 
After No. 46 "A Sudden Shower at Shono" from the series Fifty-Three stations of the Tokaido 
After "A Sudden Shower at Shono" from the series Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido 
No.48 "Seki: Early Departure from the Honjin" from the series Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido 
No. 50 "Tsuchiyama: Spring Rain" from the series Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido 
No. 51 "Minakuchi: Famous Dried Gourd Shavings from the series Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido 
No. 52 "Ishibe: The Village of Megawa" from the series Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido 
No. 53 "Kusatsu: Famous Post House" from the series Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido 
No.55 "Kyoto: The Great Sanjo Bridge" from the series Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido 
No.21 "Mariko: Famous Tea Shop" from the series Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido 
"Hakone" from the series Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido