Katsushika Hokusai’s Ukiyo-e I will explain Mt. Fuji from Tea Plantation of Katakura in Suruga Province in Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji.
Suruga Province in this ukiyo-e refers to the area around present-day eastern Shizuoka Prefecture.
Since the place name Katakura does not exist, it has been pointed out that Tokukura, located in Shimizu-cho, Sunto-gun, Shizuoka Prefecture, may have been misprinted.
It is possible that Togura village’s “door” was mistaken for “kata”.
Since Suruga was a famous production area for tea, it is thought that there were many such large-scale tea gardens.
At the time when this ukiyo-e was drawn, the area of the hut that can be seen on the other side of the haze is a fairly large tea garden if it is on the same site.
Women can be seen picking tea in the tea plantations in the two central areas wearing hats.
Workers put the picked tea leaves in baskets, carry them, and put them on horseback.
You can check the process of tea picking while following the paths in the garden.
In particular, the six people sitting side by side on a long table did not seem like they were working.
On the two horses, you can see the family crest of Eijudo, the publisher of ukiyo-e, which should have nothing to do with the tea garden.
[As of 2022] Tea production volume is No. 1: Shizuoka Prefecture, No. 2: Kagoshima Prefecture, No. 3: Mie Prefecture, No. 4: Miyazaki Prefecture, No. 5: Kyoto Prefecture.
This ukiyo-e is from around 1830 to 1832. Hokusai is around 72 years old.
