越後　親しらず

About this print

This nishiki-e depicts the coast at Oyashirazu in Itoigawa, Niigata Prefecture. Nishiki-e are multicolored woodblock prints. It is one sheet from Rokujuyoshu Meisho Zue (Famous Views of the Sixty-odd Provinces), a series in which Utagawa Hiroshige drew one famous place for each province, and it was published in 1853 by Koshimuraya Heisuke (Koshihei).

Oyashirazu and Koshirazu make up a stretch of coast about 15 kilometers long where the mountains press right up to the sea. In the Edo period it was the most dangerous point on the Hokurikudo highway. Travelers had no choice but to dash along the water's edge between waves. The names mean roughly "parents forgotten" and "children forgotten," and are said to come from how parents had no time to look out for their children, nor children for their parents. In 1883 (Meiji 16), a road was cut into the cliffs.

Today a railway, a national highway and an expressway run through the area. In 2014 part of it was designated a National Place of Scenic Beauty, one of the "Scenic Spots of Oku no Hosomichi," a group of places linked to the famous travel journal. It is also one of the highlights of the Itoigawa UNESCO Global Geopark.

Glossary