'Shono – Sudden Rain' - Hiroshige

 

Another of Hiroshige's wood block prints from the Tokaido series, this is one of his most well known: station forty-six, 'Shono – Sudden Rain,' published c. 1831-4.  In this depiction, our travellers are caught in a downpour near the town of Shono in Ise Province.  Says author Tomikichiro Tokuriki,

Shono not only ranks with the best prints in this set but is one of the outstanding works in the artist's entire life.  No other print treats the fall of heavy rain so well, or expresses the beauty of that rain.  One almost hears it falling.  Van Gogh also used rain as a subject matter, and it is remembered that he got ideas from the Japanese ukiyo-e print artists.