HIROSHIGE Echizen Province

Pine Forest of Kebi at Tsuruga Bay, Echizen Province
Signed: Hiroshige ga
Series: Views of the 60 Odd Provinces
Publisher: Koshihei
c 1853

Moderately good impression and colors. Very light album backing.

Tsuruga Bay, on Japan’s west coast, leads to the Sea of Japan.  Tsuruga, the small port that Hiroshige gives us a glimpse of, became a busy port in the Meiji Period (1868-1912) and is now a city with two nuclear power plants.  The Kehi Pine Grove, seen at the bottom of the print and extending around the western side of the bay, was one of Japan’s three largest pine forests and still exists.  The beach, today called Miho no Matsubara, is one of Japan’s largest and most popular.