Seven League Beach, Sagami Province (Sagami Shichigahama), from the series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji (Fuji sanjÅ«rokkei) Possibly 1859

Curator: Utagawa Hiroshige's "Seven League Beach, Sagami Province" is a striking woodblock print, part of his famous "Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji" series. Editor: It has a wonderfully serene quality. The lines of the waves are so elegantly rendered, and Mount Fuji provides a strong focal point. Curator: Hiroshige created this series during a time of increased domestic travel in Japan, thanks to improved infrastructure. Prints like these fueled a national fascination with landscapes. Editor: Absolutely, the linear perspective draws the eye deep into the composition, guiding it from the foreground figures, along the shore, and eventually to the iconic mountain. Curator: Indeed. It's interesting to consider how this print, alongside others in the series, shaped the very idea of "Japan" in the popular imagination of the time. Editor: Well, I'm simply captivated by the interplay between the detailed foreground and the distant, almost ethereal, presence of Mount Fuji. A great example of balance.