Artwork

Shinshu-sarashina tagoto no tsuki|本朝名所信州更科田毎之月|Reflections of the Moon in the Rice Fields of Sarashina in Shinshu

Shinshu-sarashina tagoto no tsuki|本朝名所信州更科田毎之月|Reflections of the Moon in the Rice Fields of Sarashina in Shinshu is an ink print by the Romanticist artist Utagawa Hiroshige. It dates from 1832 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

About this work

Overview

Created circa 1832 by Utagawa Hiroshige, this woodblock print belongs to the ukiyo-e tradition of the Edo period. It portrays a moonlit night over the rice paddies of Sarashina in the Shinshu region, offering a calm, nocturnal landscape that contrasts with the genre’s more common urban scenes.

Subject & Meaning

The composition centers on a low, luminous moon that illuminates a dark mountain and spreads a cool blue glow across the water and fields. Small boats drift on the still surface, while a cluster of trees and a modest village with red‑tiled roofs sit at the water’s edge, suggesting a serene, agricultural life under the night sky.

Technique & Style

Hiroshige employs precise line work to convey wind‑ruffled foliage and rippling water, while the palette combines muted blues, greens, and reds that stand out against the dark background. The use of bold yet restrained color blocks and fine cross‑hatching creates depth and atmospheric perspective typical of his landscape series.

History & Provenance

The print is part of Hiroshige’s broader series of rural vistas, produced during a period when he turned his attention from bustling cityscapes to Japan’s countryside. It was issued as a single sheet by a Edo‑based publisher and later entered museum collections as an example of early 19th‑century Japanese printmaking.

Artist & collection

Artist

Utagawa Hiroshige

Utagawa Hiroshige (歌川広重) or Andō Hiroshige (安藤広重), born Andō Tokutarō (安藤徳太郎; 1797 – 12 October 1858), was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist, considered the last great master of that tradition.