Maple Trees at Mama, Tekona Shrine and Linked Bridge

Utagawa Hiroshige, one of the last great masters of the ukiyo-e tradition, was celebrated for his sweeping landscape prints and his sensitivity to the changing seasons. 

In earlier times, Mama, which lay more than ten miles east of central Edo (now Tokyo), was famous for a single tree of extraordinary size. By Hiroshige's day only its stump remained, yet he may be gesturing toward that legendary tree through the large, forked trunk he uses to frame the scene. He draws attention to Mama's scenic splendor with the dominant leaves filling the center foreground—once a glorious orange, achieved with red lead or iron oxide, though the pigment has since darkened with age. Beyond the maples stand the shrine and bridge named in the print's title.

This print is featured in our Monthly Wall Calendar for 2027. Would you like to see it on your wall next fall? Order yours in the DailyArt Shop!  :)

P.S. Did you know this print was owned by Vincent van Gogh, who greatly admired Japanese art? Read more about this masterpiece!