Dawn at Futamigaura

The “wedded rocks” of Futamigaura, in Mie Prefecture, are identified with Izanagi and Izanami, the progenitor couple in Japanese mythology. Joining them is the thick straw rope, or shimenawa, used to demarcate a Shinto sacred space. Thus connected, the rocks form a gateway to nearby Futami Okitama Shrine. In Kunisada’s somewhat fanciful rendering of the scene, the rocks tower above the beach at low tide, dwarfing several travelers who have arrived just in time to see the famous sight of the sun rising between them. Two palanquins rest at the taller rock’s base, and lanterns mark their journey through the night. Farther along the shore to the right, two silhoutted figures gesture toward the sunrise. Kunisada’s study of Western engravings is evident in several aspects of the design: the rays of the sun, reserved against the dark night sky and fanned out in one-point perspective; the low horizon line; and the parallel strokes used to shade the rocks and istant hills. The print is from an untitled seres of ten published by Yamaguchiya Tōbei around 1832, at a time of great popularity for landscape prints. Designed in related pairs, the series includes an image of abalone divers at Ise, a site located close by Futamigaura.