# Evening Snow at Kanbara, from the series "Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō"

**Utagawa Hiroshige** (Japanese, 1797–1858)  
ca. 1833–34  
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper  
8 7/8 x 13 3/4 in. (22.5 x 34.9 cm)

Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, JP2492. [The museum's record](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/56915).

## About this work

Snow lies thick on the roofs and hills of the village of Kanbara as a few travellers bend against the cold on the road at nightfall. The scene is one of the most celebrated in Hiroshige’s Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō, yet Kanbara, on the coast below Mount Fuji, seldom sees snow, so Hiroshige seems to have imagined the scene for poetic effect. Subtle gradations of grey in the sky and the silent white landscape make the print a study in mood.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

Utagawa Hiroshige designed this in about 1833–34, aged about 26. It is now at The Met in New York.

### How it was made

- **Colour woodblock print.** In Japan these were a team effort. The artist drew the design, a carver cut it into cherry-wood blocks, one block for each colour, and a printer brushed on the pigment and rubbed each sheet by hand. Full-colour prints of this kind were called nishiki-e, “brocade pictures”, from the 1760s on.

### [Utagawa Hiroshige](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/utagawa-hiroshige)

Japanese, 1797–1858

Hiroshige was born into a family of Edo fire wardens and trained under Utagawa Toyohiro. His breakthrough came in the early 1830s with The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō, scenes along the highway between Edo and Kyoto. He went on to design thousands of landscapes attentive to weather, season and the hour of day, ending with One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, still unfinished at his death. Van Gogh made a painted copy of one of its views, Plum Garden at Kameido.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Prints
- Culture: Japan
- The artist was about 26
- Real size: about 9 × 14 in (23 × 35 cm). The 11 × 14 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 19th century
- Movement: [Ukiyo-e](https://www.ochreeditions.com/movements/ukiyo-e)
- Subjects: Houses, Mountains, Snow
- Colour: white
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/957.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/957/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/evening-snow-at-kanbara-from-the-series-fifty-three-stations-met-56915).