By Popular Demand......

Okay, just one requested this.

In my divorce, I lost a collection of ukiyoe, Japanese wood block prints. I did not lose all I had as I had some from before we married, all of famous places or stations along various kaidos, but the high quality reproductions of some of the best prints from various “Beauties” collection I did lose. I decided to rebuild my collection of ukiyoe and have been aggressively engaged in this pursuit over the past month. Here I present the recent additions to my collection.

Most of these images are of my actual prints, others are from the web as I don’t want to open the plastic packaging as I may be soon returning Stateside, so I skanked some pics of the same views from the internet.

look at the fine lines of the mosquito net. This is a wood block print: what skill the carver must have to pull this off.

Another mosquito net. Image carving the wood block for that.

This print is one I have long desired as it depicts a temple that is just a couple of blocks away and cross the river from where I studied as an exchange student in the late 90s. I will post more about this later.

This is a view of Shinobazu Pond in Ueno. The arched stone bridge in the back ground leading to the Benten-do is still extant as is the temple up the hill on the right. I have taken photos of female friends at or near this exact spot without even knowing of this ukiyoe.

This print in particular resembles some I have known. Several of the “Beauties” prints do.

Not knowing this was a diptych, I have two copies of the upper print. I am sure the lower one was also available when I bought the upper, but I did not realize the nature of it until I saw the two for sale on ETSY, which I bought. In my defense, this is the only example of a vertical ukiyoe diptych.

The purchase of this beautiful piece is due to a fortunate mistake stemming from my less than perfect ability to read kanji. I can read that the location is Akasaka, a well known area in Tokyo that I just recently traversed in retail therapy tour. I learned from my new favorite ukiyoe shop that this is in different city. Interestingly, both the building the tree survive to this day. The building remained in use as lodgings until rather recently and is now a museum, the tree, much bigger than as it was depicted around 180 years.

I lucked out and was able to capture the embossed texture to the giant snowball in my photograph of this print. This attention to detail by these craftsmen/artists transforms their works into something truly special.

Forgot to point this out with am earlier print, all the buildings in this print are thatched roofed.

Here we see two bushi and what is either an attendant of a commoner bowing to the procession of a higher status bushi, perhaps a daimyo on his way to or from Edo. Somewhat visible is how the clouds are raised against the sky, giving a subtle 3D affect.

This and several others I have use mica as the back ground. This one displays the silvery sheen of its mica nicely. Modern reprints cannot reproduce this effect, but the best reproductions do.

This one holds great interest from me. First, we see the object of the image writing. Then, barely perceptible in the photo, we can see the ribs of the folding fan (sensu) impressed into the paper. Then we have a pattern embossed in to white kimono.

Apart from the outlandishly large obi knot and other points of interest, in the fan shaped vignette we see Ryogoko bridge. I work near here.

Note the incense burner with smoke arising from it. I am crazy about Japanese incense.

During the lockdowns lite period of the panic, I still was compelled to go in to Tokyo from time to time. I made the most out of these trips as possible. no longer free to change the scenery as I would wish, I found that being able to change the scentscape indispensable to maintaining my sanity. While I did buy a lot of incense online, I preferred to visit temples to see if they had their own scents. This one does. I do not recall how many different scents they have, but I bought about half a dozen of what they offer. No thatched roofs have survived in this area to the present day but many did exist a century and a half or so ago as seen here.

Kinkakuji, The Golden Pavilion, in Kyoto. One of the most famous of all Japanese buildings. I have been here many times, including with my parents.

Another view of the Ryogoku Bridge with Mt. Fuji in the background at sunset.

If you haven’t surmised yet, ancient lighting is a topic of interest for me.

Much newer but nice.

This is a pic form the internet. The real MaCoy is stunning. It too has a mica background.

This is a famous bridge in Tokyo. The original has long been destroyed but its current replacement closely resembles this. I have been across it.

One of my newest additions. This depicts an area I know well as I walk through it twice weekly. It is very near the temple that is a couple of blocks away and across the river from where I studied as an exchange student in the late nighties. At the top right is Kando Myojin. The Kanda Matsuri, which this shrine hosts is one of the top 3 in all of Japan. One of the happiest episodes of my life was being able to participate in this with my family in 2023. The area in the foreground is just across the river from Akihabara.

Ueno again. the causeway we see off to the left goes to the Benten-do mentioned earlier. The Temple seen here was in the upper right of the earlier photo shoeing the arched stone bridge going to the Benten-do. The bridge is just off to the left of the image caught in the frame. In recent years, they have trained a limb of a tree into the moon shape seen here.

Just last week I was on this very street and took photos of the gate seen at the upper left. I did not see the shrine on the right but was told that it is hidden behind the modern high-rises that now flank the street. This is within walking distance of my new med school.

There are ten more than comprise a set I recently purchased. I will save those for later.