Cleveland Museum of Art

Hotohoto Festival at Izumo Grand Shrine, from the series Views of Famous Places in the Sixty-odd Provinces

Utagawa Hiroshige

Date

1853

Medium

Color woodblock print, ink and color on paper

Culture

Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)

Department

Japanese Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Izumo Shrine is a Shinto shrine on Honshu Island. The Japanese believe that Shinto kami (divine spirits) leave their own shrines for a month in October or November—depending on the lunar calendar—and travel to Izumo Shrine. During this time, a festival is held in which celebrants carrying lighted torches lead the kami to the shrine.

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