PREFACE

It is a very pleasant duty to record my acknowledgment of the great assistance I have received in the preparation of this volume, from many friends both in this country and in Japan. My best thanks are due in the first instance to Mr. J. S. Happer of Tokyo, whose efforts on my behalf have been untiring and disinterested to a remarkable degree. All students of the work of Hiroshige are under a great obligation to Mr. Happer, who was the first to draw attention to the important seal dates on the prints of that great artist, and to their significance; and who also first clearly indicated the distinction between his individuality and that of his principal pupil. To this public service he has added, very largely for my benefit. He placed at my disposal, in the most generous manner, not only the material already published by him, but a large mass of information which he has since acquired; and assisted me further by prosecuting researches among his expert friends in Japan, and by procuring and editing translations of matter not obtainable elsewhere. I am also indebted for assistance in various forms, to Mr. S. Watanabe for permission to use the invaluable information contained in the Catalogue of the Hiroshige Memorial Exhibition, held at Tokyo in 1918, and to the editors generally of that rare but indispensable work; as well as to Mr. H. Shugio, Mr. Mihara, Mr. Minoru Uchida and Mr. K. Matsuki, for their most useful assistance. The sale catalogues issued at various times by Messrs. Sotheby, Wilkinson and Hodge should also be mentioned.

Dr. Jonathan Hutchinson, F.R.C.S., generously placed his original sketchbook, with diary notes, at my disposal; and Sir Leicester Harmsworth, Bart., Mr. Oscar Raphael and Professor William Bateson have lent prints and drawings for reproduction from their collections; while I have also had the privilege of reproducing examples from the collections in the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum; in the latter case I must especially acknowledge the help of Mr. Martin Hardie, R.I., R.E., and of Mr. L. W. Michelletti. In the preparation of the Catalogue, and assistance in translations, my best thanks are due to Messrs. K. Murakami and S. Kato; and to Mr. Sotaro Nakai for his illuminating appreciation of Hiroshige with which the text concludes.

In conclusion I would pay a tribute to the work of other students of the subject, and particularly to the late Edgar Wilson and to Mr. Arthur Morrison, who shared my early investigations into the question, and to the later writings of Mr. Yone Noguchi, Mr. Laurence Binyon, Major Sexton O'Brien and Mr. Kojima Osui.

EDWARD F. STRANGE