• @deletemeEnglish
    4•1 month ago

    This canal was created in the seventeenth century to supply drinking water to the Fukagawa area. In Hiroshige’s time a regular passenger-boat service emerged as a pleasant shortcut for Edo travelers heading northeast. This was the only towboat canal in Edo, and hence it enjoyed some distinction. Although the canal followed an absolutely straight line, Hiroshige depicted it with artistic license. The dramatic curves lend a sense of Western perspective seldom encountered in the series.

    Source: https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/121647

    • DankOfAmericaEnglish
      1•21 days ago

      I don’t know anything about this, but I’m guessing that canal was built with straight manual labor and shovels. Impressive that people back then thought to do things like that. I imagine it took a really long time, energy, and pain/soreness to complete the project.

  • @[email protected]English
    3•1 month ago

    I can’t help but wonder what happens when the two boats being pulled come together. Does one of the men go under the other’s rope? If so, who decides who does what? If they don’t get it right, the ropes will get tangled. That can’t be good for business…

        • @[email protected]English
          5•1 month ago

          There is a wonderful art exhibition touring the United States right now about Hokusai, the Edo period artist often considered the “father of ukiyo-e” style art. It has a lot of originals, his students work, and modern takes on classics. The focus of the exhibit though is Hokusai’s “Great Wave off Kanagawa”. Keep an ear out and if it comes to a museum near you, I can’t recommend it enough. I saw it twice when it was near by… and if I’m ever near it again, I’d go see it a third time without hesitation.