Ukiyo-e (I)

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Exhibition:

Human | Nature: 150 Years of Japanese Landscape Prints. Portland Art Museum, Dec 3, 2022 – May 7, 2023.
https://portlandartmuseum.org/exhibitions/human-nature/

(a) ukiyo-e caption: "Katsushika Hokusai [葛飾 北斎] (Japanese, 1760–1849), Suspension Bridge between Hida and Etchū Provinces from the series Remarkable Views of Bridges in Various Provinces [諸国名橋奇覧], ca. 1834, color woodblock print on paper, The Mary Andrews Ladd Collection, Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon, 32.469."

(b) Quote (text):

"World-renowned print artists Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849) and Utagawa Hiroshige [歌川 広重] (1797–1858) * * * Hokusai's magisterial tribute to Japan's most revered peak, the Thirty-six Views of Mt Fuji. Hiroshige's snapshots of urban flora and fauna in the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo also capture how nature charms and surprises as it insinuates itself into city life.

"Later woodblock prints[:] * * * Nature wreaked havoc on human life in the Great Kantō Earthquake of 1923, as dramatically visualized in prints by Nishizawa Tekiho [西沢 笛畝; surnamed Nishizawa 西沢, with 笛 teki and 畝 ho as Chinese pronunciations] (1889–1965) * * *

"A selection of prints by American and Japanese artists working in the Pacific Northwest, including Gordon Gilkey (1912–2000) and Sekino Jun'ichirō [関野 準一郎] (1914–1988), are also showcased in this exhibition, suggesting how the human affinity for nature transcends time and place and resonates with us here and now in Portland.

Note:
(a) About that particular ukiyo-e.
(i) Category:Unusual Views of Celebrated Bridges in the Provinces  日本語: 『諸国名橋奇覧』
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wi ... es_in_the_Provinces
(ii) The particular ukiyo-e has, in the upper right corner,  the heading: 諸国名橋奇覧 飛越の堺つりはし, the latter (pronunciation: Hietsu no sakai tsurihashi; 堺, with Japanese pronunciation saka-i and meaning 'border') of which corresponds to the English title Suspension Bridge between Hida and Etchū Provinces
(iii) Japanese-English dictionary:
* The "da" is one of many Chinese pronunciations (most sound similar) of kanji 騨, which means "dappled grey horse."
* tsurihashi 吊橋, 吊り橋 【つりばし】 (n): "suspension bridge; rope bridge"
   ^ Kanji 吊 has Japanese pronunciation tsuru (verb) and tsuri (noun) and means "suspend, hang."
   ^ The hashi is japanese pronunciation of kanji 橋.
* In Japanese, 国境 = 堺 and means border only (not territory (of a nation) ). Therefore, 無国境 = borderless, 脱国境 = porous border and 国境警察 = border police.
* kikori 木こり; 樵 【きこり】 (n): "woodcutter"
   ^ The ko os Japanese pronunciation of kanji 木.
   ^ The kori is the noun with verb koru 捆る or 梱る meaning pack.
* tesuri 手すり 【てすり】 (n): "handrail; railing; banister"
* tote とて : "even"
* tawamu たわむ (v): "to bend  <その枝はたわんだが、折れなかった。 The branch bent but did not break.>"
* saso-u 誘う 【さそう】 (v): "to invite; to ask (someone to do); to call (for)"
* unka-i 雲海 雲海 【うんかい】 (n): "sea of clouds"
* yukute 行く手 【ゆくて】 (n): "one's way; one's path  <激しい雨が彼らの行く手を妨げた。 The heavy rain prevented them from going there.>"
   ^ yuku 行く【ゆくて】(v): "go"
(iv) View map in
(A) Hida Province  飛騨国
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hida_Province
, whose text states, "Hida" indicates the west side of the Hida Mountains." The corresponding sentence in ja.wikipedia.org for "飛騨国" is: "「飛騨」は飛騨山脈の西側一帯を示す言葉."  (言葉 can also be written as 詞, both meaning word.)
(B) Etchū Province  越中国
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etchū_Province
("In 701 AD, per the reforms of the Taihō Code 大宝律令, Koshi [Province 越国] was divided into three separate provinces: Echizen [越前 (国)], Etchū, and Echigo [in the order of west to east]")

The kanji 越 has Chinese pronunciation etsu, with pronunciation koshi appearing in proper names only.
(v) The ja.wikipedia.org for 葛飾 北斎 has the same ukiyo-u with caption: 『諸国名橋奇覧 飛越の堺つりはし』 飛騨と越中の国境に架かる吊り橋を樵（きこり）の夫婦が渡っていく。橋には手すりとて無く、たわむ様子が緊張を誘う。雲海に沈んだ谷は底が知れない。行く手の山には2頭の鹿が草を食み、鳥は高い空を悠然と舞う。

my translation: on the suspension bridge at the border between 飛騨 and 越中 provinces, a woodcutter couple crossed. There was not even handrail, and the taut bridge caused a viewer to be nervous. It is unclear how deep the valley was, which sank below sea of clouds. Ahead two deers grazed , and birds dance in the high sky.

choi

(b) About the text.
(i) One Hundred Famous Views of Edo  名所江戸百景
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Hundred_Famous_Views_of_Edo
("by the Japanese artist Hiroshige (1797–1858). The prints were first published in serialized form in 1856–59, with Hiroshige II [Hiroshige's son-in-law; Japanese: 二代目 歌川広重, where 目 converts 'two generations' to 'second generation'] completing the series after Hiroshige's death")
(ii) The Wiki page right above is topped with  the ukiyo-e whose heading is in the upper right corner: 亀戸梅屋舗 Kameido Umeyashiki.
(A) Named after 亀戸村 established in 1889, Kameido 亀戸 is presently a neighborhood in 東京都江東区.
(B) Kanji 亀 and 戸 have Japanese pronunciations "kame" and "to," the latter softened to "do" because 戸 is situated not at the start of the term (亀戸).

Kanji 梅 has ume as Japanese pronunciation and ba-i as Chinese pronunciation.
(C) Section 駅名の由来 in ja.wikipedia.org for 梅屋敷駅 (東京都) states:
"当駅付近にかつて「梅屋敷」と称される、風邪薬の販売と梅見で有名な商家が存在したことに由来する。"

my translation: Regarding the current subway station called 梅屋敷駅 in 東京都. "The name comes from the fact that there used to be a merchant house/ business called 'Umeyashiki' near this station, which was famous for selling cold medicines and viewing plum blossoms.
(D) The plum tree at issue was (and still exists) 臥龍梅 (pronunciation: ga-ryū-ba-i. (The ga is Chinese pronunciation.) However there are many plum trees in various parts of Japan that share the same name.
(E) Japanese-English dictionary:
* meisho 名所 【めいしょ】 (n): "famous place"
* yashiki 屋敷[P]; 邸[P] 【やしき】 (n): "residence; estate; grounds; premises; mansion"
   ^ 屋敷 means a house and the lands it stands on, as well as the land in its surroundings, if any. Compare estate (land)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estate_(land)
(iii) Another 浮世絵師, 渓斎 英泉 KE-I-SA-I E-isen（1791 - 1848） had two ukiyo-e based on the same plum tree,, which gives you an idea about the tree (how big it was etc) and its surroundings.
(A) Edo-Meisho-Zukushi Umeyashiki Kaika-no-Zu   'Ume' in Full Bloom at Umeyashiki, One of Noted Place of Edo.  Agency for Cultural Affairs (文部科学省)文化庁: Cultural Heritage Online 文化遺產オンライン, undated.
https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/240238

Japanese title: 「江戸名所尽」 「梅屋敷臥龍梅開花ノ図」.  The latter is seen at the upper left corner of the ukiyo-e, with ノ (katakana of "no") diminished so that each rows had three kanji.

The noun 尽 (Japanese pronunciation: tsushiki, whose ts is softened to z due to its position not at the start of the term) means "complete."

The NII in the URL stands for National Institute of Informatics, Japan.

As the lower left corner of the Web page indicates, this one (ukiyo-e) belongs to 海の見える杜美術館 (the name says 杜美術館 that can see the [Inland] Sea).
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/海の見える杜美術館

杜, as well as 森 (Principal), are bth pronounced mori, and both means shrine grove. And 鎮守の杜 / 鎮守の森 both mean the same thing: "grove of the village shrine."  See trees with blossoms in
美術館について  About the Museum.
https://www.umam.jp/aboutmuseum/
(B) 江都梅屋舗臥龍梅之図.
https://ukiyo-e.org/image/harashobo/2811_3
(1835)

Click the Ukiyo-e to enlarge.

江都
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/江都
("江戸の雅称")

choi

(c) 臥龍梅 the real-thing in Tokyo is not very impressive. See  

スバル, 名所江戸百景　第30景「亀戸梅屋舗」. Feb 10, 2011.
https://ameblo.jp/tkyburabura/entry-10792665095.html
The name comes from the fact that there used to be a merchant house called 'Umeyashiki' near this station, which was famous for selling cold medicines and viewing plum blossoms.

The author name is スバル, which is katakana for Subaru (carmaker).

The first paragraph ("亀戸天神へ行ったついでに、亀戸梅屋敷跡に寄ってきました。") says: I went to 亀戸天神社. Taking the opportunity (ついでに), I also visited 亀戸梅屋敷跡 (跡 means trace, ruins or site, the last signaling the building no longer exists).

The first two photos showed 臥龍梅 in opposite angles, with a plaque by it to indicate it is the real thing.

Photo 3 placed side by side the ukiyo-e and the real tree, whose captionread: "名所江戸百景　第30景「亀戸梅屋舗」も花有バージョンで、" where バージョン is katakana for "version." Basically the caption said that when the plum tree was in bloom, from a certain angle, the tree in real life looked somewhat similar to the tree in ukiyo-e.

Photo 4 had the stand-alone 臥龍梅 on its right, and a row plum tree across the street (the next is a map that helpfully told us the street name is Asakusa Dōri 浅草 通り).

The map after photo 4 shows where the 臥龍梅 is relocated (現在位置), where it was (臥龍梅跡), where 梅屋敷跡 is

The photo after /below the mapo says that other than two (flowerless) plum trees on site, there was no sign whatever to indicate 梅屋敷 once stood there ("梅の木が2本程植わっていますが、特に碑や説明板もありません").

The bottom photos stated: Still, progressing ahead slight.y to the left, on the side of the street stands 梅屋敷伏見稲荷神社, whose address was 亀戸3ｰ51-3 ("また、この左側の道を少し進んで脇道に入った所に「梅屋敷伏見稲荷神社」があります（亀戸3ｰ51-3）。")/