Top of page

Seasonal Offerings: A New Japanese Prints Flickr Album and Special Sakura Display

Share this post:

The following is a guest post by Katherine Blood, Curator of Fine Prints, and Mari Nakahara, Curator of Architecture, Design, and Engineering, Prints & Photographs Division:

As Washington’s beloved cherry trees are in full bloom, we are inspired to share an assortment of seasonal-themed images from the Library’s extensive holdings of Japanese woodblock prints. In Japanese culture, art, and literature, the four seasons are often linked with famous places, annual festivals, and the thoughtful appreciation of natural phenomena including springtime sakura (cherry blossoms), bright autumn foliage, and winter snow. We invite you to explore some of the choice examples, including a number of jewel-colored landscapes by Hiroshige, recently added to our Japanese prints album available through Flickr Commons. The prints feature seasonal festivals and celebrated destinations, traditional pastimes from firefly-catching to flower and moon-viewing, and an array of natural beauties.

Print shows sightseers viewing cherry blossoms along the banks of the Tama River at Edo.
Tamagawa-zutsumi no Hana [Blossoms on the Tama River Embankment]. Woodcut print by Hiroshige Andō, 1856. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/jpd.01328
Print shows a bird's-eye view of the Hasedera temple in the Yamato Province.
Yamato Hasedera [Hasedera in Yamato Province]. Woodcut print by Hiroshige Utagawa (Hiroshige II), 1859. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/jpd.01361

In time for the Cherry Blossom Festival, we have also prepared a special, public display in the Library’s Jefferson Building (March 30 to May 2, 2015) of highlights from the Library’s sakura-related collections. In addition to color woodblock prints and photographs, which range from historic to contemporary featuring sakura in Japan and the U.S., visitors can see early Cherry Blossom Princess programs from the 1940s and 50s, and images of watercolor drawings showing eleven sakura varieties. These collections illuminate the historical significance of sakura in Japan, and their continuing resonance in American culture and for Washingtonians in particular, thanks to Tokyo’s 1912 gift of the glorious trees that bloom each spring along the Tidal Basin and are scattered throughout Washington, D.C. as well. For example, one of the original gift trees can be viewed on the grounds of the Library’s Thomas Jefferson Building (below, right).

The Sakura Display cases in the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress. Photograph by Prints & Photographs Division staff, April 9, 2015.
The Sakura-related Display in the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress. Photograph by Prints & Photographs Division staff, April 9, 2015.

Cherry tree blossoms with the dome of the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress in the background. Photograph by Prints & Photographs Division staff, April 9, 2015.
Cherry Tree Blossoms with the Dome of the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress in the Background. Photograph by Prints & Photographs Division staff, April 9, 2015.

Learn More:

Add a Comment

This blog is governed by the general rules of respectful civil discourse. You are fully responsible for everything that you post. The content of all comments is released into the public domain unless clearly stated otherwise. The Library of Congress does not control the content posted. Nevertheless, the Library of Congress may monitor any user-generated content as it chooses and reserves the right to remove content for any reason whatever, without consent. Gratuitous links to sites are viewed as spam and may result in removed comments. We further reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to remove a user's privilege to post content on the Library site. Read our Comment and Posting Policy.


Required fields are indicated with an * asterisk.