Rōben Waterfall at Ōyama in Sagami Province (Sōshū Ōyama Rōben no taki)

Artist/Culture Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾北斎 (Japanese, 1760–1849)

Dateabout 1833

Mediumwoodblock print; ink and color on paper

DimensionsVertical ōban: 37.8 x 25.4 cm (14 7/8 x 10 in.)

ClassificationsPrints

MarkingsPublisher’s seal: Eijudo; censor's seal: kiwame

Credit LineJohn Chandler Bancroft Collection

Terms

Object number1901.738

Label TextLocated on the sacred Mount Oyama, also called Afuriyama (‘Rain-making Mountain’), in present-day Kanagawa Prefecture, Roben Waterfall plunges from wooded cliffs. Its force is apparent from the spray surrounding the pilgrims who purify themselves in the pool below. Such ritual cleansing was required before climbing to Oyama Temple, founded by Roben (689-773), a monk of the Buddhist Kegon sect. A statue of Fudo Myo-o or Acala, the immovable, wrathful destroyer of delusion, is enshrined at this temple in its most spectacular manifestation, namely as the dragon king Kurikara coiled around an upright sword. During the Edo period (1615-1868) pilgrimages by religious fraternities to Oyama Temple in mid-summer became enormously popular. Pilgrims often offered six-foot-long wooden sword-shaped prayer boards. The men would leave their clothing in the guest house (on the right) as they bathed, and as Hokusai shows, many brought their prayer-swords with them into the water. Hokusai incorporated several references to his publisher Nishimuraya Yohachi (Eijudo) in the design: the publisher’s trademark appears on the hat at the top of the pile of headgear in the guest house; the man who pauses and leans back to look up at the waterfall holds on to a summer coat embellished with a repeating pattern of the character ? (ju) as well as the publisher’s trademark; and on the hat hanging on the wooden fence one can see the character ? (ei).

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