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Poise and gentleness: Hiroshige, at the British Museum, reviewed

The work is as decorative and fond as a Cavalier poem or a late Edwardian ditty, and captures the spirit of 200 years of Japanese introspection about to come to an end

Hermione Eyre
‘Mt Fuji and Otodome Fall’, c.1849-52, by Utagawa Hiroshige © ALAN MEDAUGH
EXPLORE THE ISSUE 10 May 2025
issue 10 May 2025

Why is Hiroshige’s work so delightful? While his close predecessor Hokusai has more drama in his draughtsmanship, Hiroshige’s pastoral visions conjure a sense of timeless continuity that appealed to his contemporaries as much as to present-day teens who love the merch. His is a world in which everything has happened before, and will happen again.

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