A much-loved designer of 19th-century Japanese landscape prints, Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858) created images that leave lasting impressions. Particularly breathtaking are his winter scenes of Edo-period Japan that show people going about their everyday lives. Whether sightseeing or carrying loads through a mountain pass, small figures are dwarfed by the sheer beauty of nature. In one of the most famous prints in the museum’s collection, it is late evening in the village of Kanbara. Travelers trudge through ankle-deep snow, making their way along the Tokaido road, which ran from Edo (now Tokyo) to Kyoto. To guard themselves against the elements, one figure has covered himself with a straw “raincoat,” while another protects himself with an umbrella.

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