Oki Province: Takuhi Shrine

At the right of the picture the bow of a large Japanese ship looms, with two tassel ornaments standing at its prow. A sailor in a red kimono holds a rope on deck, and the hull advances, splitting the waves. In the foreground white wave crests heave, and at upper left on the shore rocks and trees overlap.

The sea surface is filled with fine wave lines, and the contrast between the white of the crests and the deep indigo expresses the force of a rough sea. The boldly composed picture cuts the ship off at the edge and places the shore far away, giving the viewpoint of someone riding on the ship.

Takuhi Shrine is a shrine on Mount Takuhi on Nishinoshima in Dozen, Oki. There is a tradition that divine fire guided ships lost on the night sea, and in the Edo period it was worshiped by sailors of Kitamae-bune and other ships as a guardian deity of voyages. Oki lies on the route of ships traveling the Sea of Japan, and the inner sea of Dozen is thought to have been used as an anchorage for ships waiting for wind.

The title names the shrine, but the print's novelty lies in making the sea and ship, rather than the shrine buildings, the stars. Impressions are also held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Tokyo National Museum, and the National Diet Library's impression has the same composition.