True View of Foreign Buildings along Kaigandōri as Seen from the Yokohama Wharves

Utagawa Hiroshige III

c. 1875

Woodblock print (nishiki-e), ink and color on paper

Minneapolis Institute of Art

A busy harbor scene depicts large sailing ships and smaller boats on the water, with a row of foreign-style buildings and a tree-lined promenade along the shore. People are gathered on the waterfront and on the decks of ships. This triptych shows the bustling harbor settlement of Yokohama with its thriving, multinational population. After two centuries of isolationism ended in 1853, the Japanese were intensely interested in the outside world. Yokohama’s prints document the beginning of foreign influence on Japanese life, including dress, modes of transportation, and building styles. The brilliant colors in this print are the result of aniline dyes. Aniline dyes, made from coal tar distillates, were developed in England in 1856 and introduced to Japan in the 1860s with many other Western technologies. The garish palette seen here was very much in vogue thr