Details

A rhapsody in flickering fire and shadow, this rare Meiji-period lithograph captures the luminous spectacle of summer fireworks over the Sumida River at Ryogoku. But more than an atmospheric document, it is a deeply nostalgic evocation—an homage to Hiroshige’s iconic woodblock renderings of the same festival in his One Hundred Famous Views of Edo. Here, the form is modern lithography, yet the spirit is firmly rooted in Ukiyo-e: the sweeping Ryogoku Bridge, the moored pleasure boats aglow with lanterns, the river teeming with festivity beneath a starless sky.

What distinguishes this print is its exquisite hand-applied coloring. Each firework, rendered in silver, red, green, or gold, bursts across the night like brushstrokes of pure celebration. Their mirrored glimmer on the blackened water, the flickering blush on nearby rooftops, and the warm illumination across the crowded banks are all drawn with careful precision, transforming what could be mechanical into something tenderly artisanal. The viewer is pulled into a living moment: the crowd below shaded in soft browns and grays with hand colored embellishments, heads tilted skyward, caught in collective awe.

Connoisseur's Note

This 1888 impression embodies the transitional spirit of the Meiji era—where tradition and modernity danced uneasily, yet sometimes beautifully. While lithography was then a modern innovation, this print borrows heavily in both composition and feeling from Edo-period woodblock designs, most notably Hiroshige’s Ryogoku summer scenes. Yet in contrast to the mass-produced nature of lithography, this work asserts individuality: each color, firework burst, and light reflection is hand-rendered, offering a singular, painterly quality to every impression.

Printed by Arakawa Tobei and published by Tanaka Kichigoro in the cultural heart of Nihonbashi, this lithograph served as a commemorative view—a popular souvenir perhaps, but one that now reads as an elegant meditation on celebration, change, and continuity. To hold such a print is to witness a moment of joyous spectacle, where the ephemeral beauty of fireworks is given permanence through ink, hand, and memory.