No. 25 c. 1835 - 1838

This woodblock print, No. 25, was created by Utagawa Hiroshige. It shows figures crossing a bridge at Hachiman in the province of Shimōsa. The bridge, a recurring symbol across cultures, often represents a transition, a connection between two worlds. The pedestrians here carry burdens, their postures mirroring the weight of life’s trials. There's a man crouched down near the water's edge. We see how a similar posture appears in depictions of hermits or sages in earlier Chinese paintings, embodying introspection. The motif has evolved over time, losing its original spiritual undertones and becoming an everyday scene. The bridge and the water convey a sense of fleeting time, and the emotional weight of journeys that resonate deeply within us. Such iconography engages us on a visceral level. The symbol of the bridge, a powerful and simple human construction, continues to resurface, evolving and accruing new layers of meaning in diverse artistic contexts.