Who painted Famous Places in the Sixty-odd Provinces: Settsu Province: Idemi Beach at Sumiyoshi, and when?

Famous Places in the Sixty-odd Provinces: Settsu Province: Idemi Beach at Sumiyoshi is by Utagawa Hiroshige, made in 1853 (Kaei 6). Medium: Woodblock print (ukiyo-e).

What place does Famous Places in the Sixty-odd Provinces: Settsu Province: Idemi Beach at Sumiyoshi show?

It shows Idemi-no-hama, Sumiyoshi (Osaka).

Where can I see Famous Places in the Sixty-odd Provinces: Settsu Province: Idemi Beach at Sumiyoshi?

It is held by Tokyo National Museum, National Diet Library. Exhibitions change, so check each museum's information before you visit.

Famous Places in the Sixty-odd Provinces ・ 5

Settsu Province: Idemi Beach at Sumiyoshi

六十余州名所図会摂津住よし出見のはま

This shows Idemi Beach at Sumiyoshi in Settsu Province. A stone high lantern standing among the pines is placed in the foreground, and the view takes in the roofs of the beach teahouses, Osaka Bay with ships coming and going, and island silhouettes lying far away.

Artist: Utagawa Hiroshige
Date: 1853 (Kaei 6)
Medium / format: Woodblock print (ukiyo-e)
Series: Famous Places in the Sixty-odd Provinces 69 prints
Place depicted: Idemi-no-hama, Sumiyoshi（Osaka）

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About this work

From the foreground to the center of the picture, a tall lantern rises among the pine trees. With a wooden lantern room set atop a base of stacked stone, it is a high lantern that served as a landmark for ships on the night sea. At left a wooden bridge spans the water, and people cross it.

Beyond the lantern, thatched-roof teahouses line the beach, and past them an indigo sea spreads out. White-sailed ships dot the offing, and a ship with its sail lowered is moored. Above the horizon the sky is dyed pale like dawn or sunset, and low island silhouettes lie in the distance.

Idemi Beach was the beach that spread before Sumiyoshi Taisha, which enshrines the god of the sea, and has long been sung in waka. Sumiyoshi drew the faith of sailors as the god of safe voyage, and the teahouses on the beach bustled with worshippers.

In choosing the high lantern and beach scenery rather than the shrine buildings themselves, one can see Hiroshige's intention to convey Sumiyoshi as a place that lived with the sea. The impression held by the National Diet Library is of a version with a different arrangement of the lantern and houses.

The place today

Land reclamation has moved the shoreline far to the west, and there is no beach in front of Sumiyoshi Taisha. The high lantern ended its role as a lighthouse in the late Taisho era after the sea receded, and in 1974 (Showa 49) it was rebuilt in reinforced concrete in its original form, at a spot in Suminoe Ward, Osaka, a little east of its original site. The main hall of Sumiyoshi Taisha is a National Treasure and still draws many worshippers.

Where can I see it?

Exhibitions change over time. Check each museum's exhibition information before you visit.

Museums that hold this work

Tokyo National Museum
Taito City, Tokyo　Accession no. A-12499-198
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National Diet Library
Chiyoda City, Tokyo　Accession no. 寄別1-9-2-4
Included in Dai Nihon Rokujuyoshu Meisho Zue. A version with a different composition from this print
Museum's page for this work (opens in a new tab)

Museums abroad

Art Institute of Chicago
Chicago　Accession no. 1965.955
Museum's page for this work (opens in a new tab)

Frequently asked questions

Who painted Famous Places in the Sixty-odd Provinces: Settsu Province: Idemi Beach at Sumiyoshi, and when?: Famous Places in the Sixty-odd Provinces: Settsu Province: Idemi Beach at Sumiyoshi is by Utagawa Hiroshige, made in 1853 (Kaei 6). Medium: Woodblock print (ukiyo-e).
What place does Famous Places in the Sixty-odd Provinces: Settsu Province: Idemi Beach at Sumiyoshi show?: It shows Idemi-no-hama, Sumiyoshi (Osaka).
Where can I see Famous Places in the Sixty-odd Provinces: Settsu Province: Idemi Beach at Sumiyoshi?: It is held by Tokyo National Museum, National Diet Library. Exhibitions change, so check each museum's information before you visit.