Artist: Utagawa Hiroshige I [歌川 広重] (Japanese, 1797–1858)
Signed: 廣重画 (Hiroshige ga), in red rectangular cartouche
Publisher: Enshūya Matabei [遠州屋又兵衛] (Japanese, fl. c. 1768–1881); seal: “to” (卜) under roof (Marks 01-031 | 057a)
Date-Censor Seal: Hama & Magome, 1849–1852 (Kaei 2–5)
Media: Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper; uchiwa-e (fan print), 23.3 × 29.7 cm (9 3/16 × 11 11/16 in)
Provenance: Nelkin Collection (Ruth Nelkin, 1927–2022)

An uchiwa-e fan print depicting two figures walking along a riverbank lined with irises. The man, identified in the cartouche as Chūbei (忠兵衛), is barefoot and carries a sword and a red cloak over his shoulder. The woman, Umekawa (梅川), walks beside him under their shared umbrella. Both wear similarly patterned grey traveling robes, decorated with floral motifs at the hem and tied with yellow obi featuring red cloud designs. Umekawa lifts the lower part of her robe slightly as she walks. In the background at left, a third male figure walks along the river path holding an umbrella. Several stacks of straw appear near the water’s edge on the right.

The figures represent the tragic lovers Chūbei and Umekawa, from the bunraku and kabuki play Meido no hikyaku (冥途の飛脚, The Courier from Hell), written in 1711 by Chikamatsu Monzaemon (近松門左衛門). In the drama, Chūbei, a money courier, embezzles entrusted funds to pay off the debt of Umekawa, a courtesan, so that she may leave the licensed quarter. Their escape leads inevitably to ruin. The scene depicted here corresponds to a conventional michiyuki (道行), or “traveling scene,” in which lovers are shown walking together toward a tragic fate.

Waseda University Cultural Resources Database

A closely related composition appears in a print from the series Ogura nazorae hyakunin isshu (小倉擬百人一首, Ogura Imitation of One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets), where this couple is visually associated with a classical poem by Fujiwara no Koretada (藤原伊尹; 924–972), also known as Ichijō Sesshō:

さびしさに
宿を立ちいでて
ながむれば
いづくも同じ
秋の夕暮れ

Sabishisa ni / yado o tachiidete / nagamureba / izuku mo onaji / aki no yūgure
Lonely and forlorn, I leave my little hut and look out—everywhere, it is the same: an autumn evening.

While the poem is not in this print, the imagery of a couple walking beside the river, with distant mountains, straw stacks, and a third figure in the background, evokes the same atmosphere of autumnal solitude.

Inscriptions:

• Yellow-red diamond cartouche: 梅川 忠兵衛 (Umekawa, Chūbei)

• Signature at bottom left: 廣重画 (Hiroshige ga)

Following consultation with Horst Graebner, the series title inscribed in the red cartouche is interpreted as 音曲尽えづくし (Onkyoku jin’e zukushi), which may be rendered as A Collection of Concluding Musical Scenes, Images of Musical Conclusions, or A Series of Musical Finales.