Victoria and Albert Museum
The world’s greatest museum of art and design
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Motifs and Symbols: Plants and Flowers
Fan print, Utagawa Hiroshige
Fan print, Utagawa Hiroshige
Fan print -Cherry Blossoms on the Shinjuku Embankment at Yotsuya
(From a series of views of famous places)
Utagawa Hiroshige I (1797 - 1858)
Japan
c.1840 - 1845.
Colour print from woodblocks.
Museum no. E.2926-1913
Fan print showing 'Cherry Blossoms on the Shinjuku Embankment at Yotsuya, from an untitled series of views of famous places by Hiroshige. The cherry blossom is the national flower of Japan symbolizing loyalty and filial love. The brief life and beauty of the cherry blossom are also associated with the samurai, who spends his life preparing for the battle which will end in honourable death.
