Japanese Illustration Immortalizing the Fragile Beauty of Japanese Nature - Sugatami and Omokage Bridges, Jariba near Takata by Hiroshige

"Sugatami and Omokage Bridges, Jariba near Takata" (original title: 高田姿見のはし俤の橋砂利場) is a woodblock print by the Japanese painter and illustrator Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) produced in January 1857.

Near the riding school featured in the previous print, the Hikawa rice paddies, covered with yellow thatch, stretch out. To the right, you can see the Hikawa Shrine, accessible via the Sugatami Bridge.

In the foreground, the Omokage Bridge forms a sharp curve above the Kanda Aqueduct. This bridge is made of wooden planks covered with earth and moss, allowing it to blend harmoniously into the landscape. In the very month of the print's publication, Shogun Tokugawa Iesada crossed this bridge on his return from a trip to Ōji, further demonstrating the artist's and publisher's almost journalistic interest in this series.

The background of the image, covered in a purple-red mist, the orange horizon and the yellow rice fields contribute to the chromatic richness of this topographical view, which places great importance on precise details.