Rain at the Togano Gate 1836 - 1870

This is a woodblock print called "Rain at the Togano Gate" by Hasegawa Sadanobu, created in Japan during the 19th century. Rain, a powerful symbolic motif, cloaks the landscape, each stroke heavy with cultural meaning. Rain is life-giving, associated with purification and renewal in many cultures. In Japanese art, it also evokes a sense of melancholy and transience, reminiscent of *mono no aware*, the pathos of things. We see rain in Northern Renaissance paintings as tears in the sky signifying mourning, or in van Gogh, as an expression of psychic turmoil. Here, in Sadanobu's print, the rain binds the landscape, bridges past and present, personal and universal. It is a visual echo resonating through time, revealing our shared human experience.