Cleveland Museum of Art

Splendid View at Futamigaura Bay

Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Date: 1854
Medium: Left print from a triptych of color woodblock prints
Culture: Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
Department: Japanese Art
Institution: Cleveland Museum of Art

This is one of three prints forming a continuous scene of figures visiting Futamigaura Bay near Ise Grand Shrine, one of Japan’s most sacred places. In the background, the sun rises between the “Wedded Rocks” joined by a twisted rope, called a shimenawa , used to designate a sanctified space. The rocks mark the entrance to Futami Okitama Shrine and are said to be embodiments of Izanagi and Izanami, the gods who, according to myth, created Japan. Futamigaura was a place where pilgrims purified themselves before visiting Ise and often lodged afterwards.

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