The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 23, 2025

Driving Rain at Shōno, from Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaidō

1833

Utagawa Hiroshige

(Japanese, 1797–1858)
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
color woodblock print
38 x 25.4 cm (14 15/16 x 10 in.)
Gift of Mrs. T. Wingate Todd from the Collection of Dr. T. Wingate Todd 1948.306
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

A large red seal with the publisher’s name, Takenouchi, is stamped on the left side of the print.

Description

Utagawa Hiroshige’s design for this print captures the atmospheric qualities of rain and its effects on two groups of travelers. Three printing blocks were required to produce the three shades of gray used to suggest distance in the thickets of bamboo in the background. The publisher’s name, “Takenouchi,” and part of the series title, Fifty-Three Stations, are written on one person’s umbrella. Hiroshige created many different print series on the Tokaidō, a road that ran from Kyoto to Edo (now Tokyo). Shōno was a minor way station along this largely coastal route.
  • ?–1948
    Mrs. T. Wingate [Eleanor Pearson] Todd [1889–1965], Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1948–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Highlights of Japanese Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 7, 2025-June 14, 2026).
    Visions of Japan: Prints and Paintings from Cleveland Collections. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 12, 2004-April 10, 2005).
    Later Japanese Art Gallery Rotation (Gallery 113). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (February 20-May 6, 2003).
    The View from Afar: Whistler and the Japanese Print. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 9-October 16, 1988).
    Transformations in Japanese Printmaking. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 25-December 30, 1984).
    Promenades, Pageants, Processions, and Pilgrimages. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (August 25, 1981-January 3, 1982).
    Japanese Woodblock Prints: Themes and Techniques. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (September 3-October 19, 1980).
  • {{cite web|title=Driving Rain at Shōno, from Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaidō|url=false|author=Utagawa Hiroshige|year=1833|access-date=23 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1948.306