Artist: Hiroshi Yoshida
Medium: Original Japanese Woodblock Print
Series Title: Japan
Edition: First and only
Date: 1922
Publisher: S. Watanabe Color Print Co. - with collaboration from the artist
Reference No.: Abe #8
Size: 19 x 13 -3/4 " (dai-oban format)
Condition: Fine
Notes:
"The Horse Turnback" (Umagaeshi) is one of the most significant early masterworks by shin-hanga artist Hiroshi Yoshida. Designed in 1922 and published by Watanabe Shozaburo, the rare pre-earthquake double-ōban size version is exceedingly scarce. Most of the woodblocks and original prints from this early collaboration were destroyed during the catastrophic 1923 Great Kantō Earthquake.
Created during Yoshida’s early experimental period with Watanabe, the work was designed in a grand, large-scale medium that Yoshida favored to capture the expansive majesty of the landscape. Following the loss of his early blocks and his subsequent split from Watanabe to establish his own independent studio, Yoshida recut the design entirely in 1928. This second version was downsized to a standard ōban format and issued as part of his self-printed (jizuri) series, "Ten Views of Fuji".
Umagaeshi (literally translated as "horse turnback") marks the specific trailhead and highest point on the Yoshida Trail where travelers were traditionally required to dismount. The composition portrays a bustling group of pilgrims and mountaineers gathering near dawn to prepare for their ascent on foot. Two packhorses are shown turning around to face downhill, signaling their return journey home while the hikers move upward.