上野六角茶屋

About this print

This picture shows a six-sided teahouse that once stood in Ueno, Tokyo. It is one sheet from Kiyochika Gajo (Kiyochika Picture Album), a collection of works by the Meiji-era ukiyo-e artist Kobayashi Kiyochika. The records give the album's date only as "18--" (the 1800s). Kiyochika made a woodblock print with the same title in 1880 (Meiji 13), in his kosenga, or "light-ray picture," style that makes use of light and shadow. But the records do not tell us whether this sheet is that same print or a painting done by hand with a brush.

In the Edo period, Ueno hill was the grounds of Kan'eiji temple. After many of the temple's buildings burned in the Battle of Ueno in 1868 (Meiji 1), the hill was chosen in 1873 as one of Japan's first public parks, and it opened in 1876. The title does not tell us where in the park the teahouse stood.

In 1924 (Taisho 13), the Imperial Household Ministry granted the park to the city of Tokyo, and its official name is Ueno Onshi Koen (Ueno Imperial Gift Park). It is home to museums, art galleries and a zoo.

Glossary