Japanese print depicting the serenity and balance of Japanese landscapes - Hiroshige's "Moon Pine" in Ueno

"The Moon Pine Tree at Ueno" (original title: 上野山内月のまつ) is a woodblock print by the Japanese painter and illustrator Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) produced in August 1857.

This pine tree, already present in the eleventh print, takes its name from the singular shape of one of its branches, curved into an almost perfect circle. This tendency of the Japanese to attribute names to trees with unique characteristics or carrying particular meanings is illustrated by prints 26, 61 and [missing number]. Once again, the composition is based on an expanded foreground that guides the eye towards the surrounding landscape, featuring the Shinobazu no ike pond, with in the background a district belonging to the powerful daimyo Maeda, lord of Kaga (Ishikawa Prefecture), nowadays occupied by the University of Tokyo. Closer to the viewer, in the lower right corner, stand several buildings, among which again emerges a red shrine dedicated to Benten, located on an island arranged in the image of the island of Chikubushima, northeast of Kyoto.