Utagawa Kunisada(Utagawa Tyokuni Ⅲ)
Production date:1844-47

In the caption, the anecdote of Sakura-ga-ike Pond is described. According to the anecdote, a woman appeared in front of Honen, a high rank Buddhist monk of Kamakura period one day and told him that she is the dragon from Sakura-ga-ike Pond. A legend tells that the deity of the dragon lives at the bottom of this pond, which is located today’s Omaezaki city of Shizuoka prefecture, and this picture is illustrated based on this legend.

This is a part of the Toukaidou series ukiyo-e, but unlike the other works that focus on the landscapes and views of post stations, in this series the scenes based on legends, tales, kabuki drama, and joururi plays that relate to each post station are illustrated. On the upper part of each work, an explanatory note is written and the picture relates to the notes is illustrated on the lower half. This series was rare since three very popular artists from Utagawa School, Hiroshige, Kuniyoshi and Kunisada (Toyokuni III) were all involved to produce the series together. Furthermore, six publishers were collaborated to produce this series.
(In this exhibition, works by Utagawa Hiroshige and Utagawa Kuniyoshi are displayed.)