Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) | Awa Province: Naruto Whirlpools (Awa, Naruto no fuha) | Edo period, 19th century

Around the vortex of a whirlpool in Naruto, Awa Province, violent waves tower and swell as the foamy waters clamber on the rocky outcrops. Infamous for its tidal whirlpools, the narrow strait of Naruto is located in between the island of Shikoku and Awaji connecting the Pacific Ocean with the Japanese Inland Sea. The planar composition has the swirling waters dominating the foreground. A flight of plovers (chidori) above the mountain ridges suggest the frothy spray of water released from the thrashing sea, an effect later repeated by Hiroshige in the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjurokkei).¹

For a similar impression of the same print in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, accession number 21.9539, go to:

https://collections.mfa.org/objects/237157

For a further impression in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (The MET), accession number JP1198, go to:

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/60024867

1. Matthi Forrer, Hiroshige: Prints and Drawings, (London, 1997), no. 61.