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Sudden Shower over Shin-Ōhashi Bridge and Atake (Ōhashi Atake no yūdachi)
Sudden Shower over Shin-Ōhashi Bridge and Atake (Ōhashi Atake no yūdachi)
Public domain: Image courtesy of the Worcester Art Museum.

Sudden Shower over Shin-Ōhashi Bridge and Atake (Ōhashi Atake no yūdachi)

Artist (Japanese, 1797–1858)
Date1857, 9th month
Mediumwoodblock print; ink and color on paper
DimensionsVertical ōban: 33.6 x 21.9 cm (13 1/4 x 8 5/8 in.)
ClassificationsPrints
MarkingsCensor's seals: aratame, Snake 9
Credit LineJohn Chandler Bancroft Collection
Object number1901.59.1275
Label TextSudden, torrential rains on summer afternoons often captured the imagination of ukiyo-e designers and poets. Widely associated with the 5th month of the Japanese calendar, these meteorological events were known as yūdachi—an “evening descent” of the thunder god. Hiroshige’s composition is relatively simple. However, the tilt of perspective in the view of the Ohashi bridge spanning the Sumida River exaggerates diagonals lines created by the bridge and the shore behind it, a choice which imbues the print with dynamic movement and captures the disorientation of the figures overwhelmed by the downpour.
On View
Not on view
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