# Kinryūsan Temple at Asakusa, from the series "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo"

**Utagawa Hiroshige** (Japanese, 1797–1858)  
1856  
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper  
H. 14 1/16 in. (35.7 cm); W. 9 1/2 in. (24.1 cm)

Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, JP2519. [The museum's record](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/56689).

## About this work

Seen from beneath the Kaminarimon gate, a giant red paper lantern hangs across the top of the print, framing the snowy approach to the Sensōji temple at Asakusa and its five-storey pagoda, while visitors with umbrellas pick their way along the white path. Hiroshige’s daring framing, with the lantern cut off by the top edge, is typical of One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, the ambitious series he produced in his final years. The softly falling snow lends the busy temple district an unusual hush.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

Utagawa Hiroshige designed this in 1856, aged 59. 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 59
- Real size: about 14 × 9½ in (36 × 24 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: Temples, Snow, Lanterns
- Colour: olive
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/956.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/956/1920.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/kinryusan-temple-at-asakusa-from-the-series-one-hundred-famo-met-56689).