Published in 1857 as part of Utagawa Hiroshige's final great series 'One Hundred Famous Views of Edo', this print shows a sudden summer downpour catching travellers on the Ōhashi Bridge over the Sumida River at Atake, in present-day Tokyo. The acute perspective, the dramatic parallel lines of slanting rain, and the flattened figures sheltering beneath paper umbrellas inspired Vincent van Gogh, who copied the composition in oil in 1887 — making this sheet one of the most famous single works in all of Japonisme.

Exhibition Venue

Edo-Tokyo Museum

Tokyo, Japan