Shower of Rain at Nihonbashi Bridge, 19th century (woodblock print on paper)

Shower of Rain at Nihonbashi Bridge (Nihonbashi no hakuu). Landscape in the rain, Mount Fuji in background, centre. Curved bridge in foreground with people walking left to right with umbrellas against the train. Middle ground depicts a village with houses along the side of the river, and barges on the river itself. All distances in Japan were and are measured from the bridge at Nihonbashi; thus it was the first in any Tokaido or Kisokaido series. Here the vertical lines, later to be imitated by Post-Impressionist painters, and the hunched miserable look of the pedestrians, emphasise the extent of the downpour. Hiroshige made several series of this title (Tōto Meisho); this is not the earliest. Shows bokashi (tonal gradation). Hiroshige, Utagawa (1797-1858)