Tokuriki Tomikichirō (1902-2000)‎ - Night Cherry Blossoms from the series Thirty Views of Kyoto

Night Cherry Blossoms

from the series Thirty Views of Kyoto

by Tokuriki Tomikichirō, c. 1933-39

Night Cherry Blossoms of Gion

Maruyama-koen Park is the oldest park in Kyoto City, situated on a natural hill. It models the kaiyu-style (walking around the pond) Japanese garden, and is one of the city's best leisure and scenic spots for cherry trees. In the center of the park, you can find the marvelous weeping cherry trees (shidare-zakura) named "Gion-no-yozakura," night cherry blossoms of Gion.

This print original issue is published by Uchida Woodblock Printing Company in the 1930s as part of the series Thirty Views of Kyoto.  Uchida mounted these prints on a display board with Tokuriki’s authentication seal on the reverse. These square format prints on board were part of a premium set of designs sold originally in a handmade box. Uchida reissued this print after World War II.

Tokuriki Tomikichirō (1902-2000)‎ - Gion Festival from the series Thirty Views of Kyoto

Gion Festival

from the series Thirty Views of Kyoto

by Tokuriki Tomikichirō, c. 1933-39

Gion Festival

Gion Matsuri is an annual festival of the Yasaka Shrine which begins July 1 and continues through July 31. During this period, a series of Shinto rituals and events take place at Yasaka Shrine and others locations in Kyoto. Yasaka Shrine was originally named Gion-sha and is the head shrine of the thousands of Gion-sha shrines in Japan.

The Gion Matsuri was started in 869 A.D when a bad plague spread in Kyoto. In the first festival, young men carried numbers of wooden floats as a divine intervention to stop the plague. The plague soon ended, and this event became a popular festival. The current form of the decorated floats appeared in the festival during the Edo period.

Yamahoko-junko is the procession of colorful floats through downtown Kyoto. The floats are pulled through the streets by teams of men dressed in traditional costumes.


There are two kinds of floats: yama and hoko. Yama are smaller floats (weight: 1.2 ton - 1.6 ton, height: about 6m) and carried by people on their shoulders. Hoko are giant floats (weight: 4.8 ton - 12 ton, height: about 25m) on large wooden wheels and pulled by people. There are 32 floats in the procession: 25 yama floats and 7 hoko floats.

This print original issue is published by Uchida Woodblock Printing Company in the 1930s as part of the series Thirty Views of Kyoto. Uchida mounted these prints on a display board with Tokuriki’s authentication seal on the reverse. These square format prints on board were part of a premium set of designs sold originally in a handmade box. Uchida reissued this print after World War II as part of the series Twelve Months of Kyoto (Kyo-meisho junikagetsu).

Collections

• Carnegie Museum of Art 

Tokuriki Tomikichirō (1902-2000)‎ - Daimonji from the series Thirty Views of Kyoto

Daimonji

from the series Thirty Views of Kyoto

by Tokuriki Tomikichirō, c. 1933-39

Daimonji Bonfire
Daimonji is one of the iconic festivals of Kyoto, Japan. It is the culmination of the O-Bon festival on August 16th, in which five giant bonfires are lit on mountains surrounding the city. It signifies the moment when the spirits of deceased family members, who are said to visit this world during O-Bon, are believed to be returning to the spirit world.

This print is published by Uchida Woodblock Printing Company in the 1930s1 as part of the series Thirty Views of Kyoto. Uchida mounted these prints on a display board with Tokuriki’s authentication seal on the reverse. These square format prints on board were part of a premium set of designs sold originally in a handmade box.

Uchida reissued this print after WWII as part of the series Twelve Months of Kyoto (Kyo-meisho junikagetsu).