Moon Pine in Ueno Park

1857, 8th month · Print · 33.9 × 22.5 cm

Can I see it?

Not on view at present

Where is “Moon Pine in Ueno Park” now? Collection: Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis. Not on view at present. Checked September 29, 2026.

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Minneapolis, United States

It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.

Checked: 13 days ago
In this state since: Sep 25, 2026
Source: The museum

On the map Museum page

About the work

One of the most iconic close-up views of this series is the so-called Moon Pine (Tsuki no matsu), which had a branch that was trained, bonsai-like, to grow in the form of a circle. The pine was located outside the Kiyomizu Hall on Mount Tōei (Tōeizan), part of the Kan’eiji Temple complex in what is today Tokyo’s Ueno Park. The circular branch works almost like a telescope to frame the samurai residences in the Hongō district, in the far distance, across Shinobazu Pond.

Moon Pine fell victim to a typhoon in the early Meiji era (1868–1912), but in 2011 a new tree with a similar circular branch was planted in the same spot.

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Details

Accession number: 96.146.194

In the catalog

Prints Woodcut Japanese prints Realism 19th century Japan

Sources

Minneapolis Institute of Art
Image: Minneapolis Institute of Art — public domain

In the life of Utagawa Hiroshige

The whole life

1856
He becomes a Buddhist monk
In 1856 Hiroshige “retired from the world”, becoming a Buddhist monk; this was the year he began his “One Hundred Famous Views of Edo”.
1856
Luxury editions with the publisher Uoya Eikichi
Working with the publisher Uoya Eikichi, Hiroshige created a series of luxury edition prints using the finest printing techniques: true gradation of color, mica for an iridescent effect, embossing, fabric printing, blind printing and glue printing.
1856–1858
One Hundred Views of Edo: a priest pays up front
His great “One Hundred Famous Views of Edo” was paid for up front by a wealthy Buddhist priest in love with the daughter of the publisher Uoya Eikichi, a former fishmonger. Hiroshige was usually poorly paid per series, yet he remained capable of remarkable art when the conditions were right.
1858
The cholera epidemic in Edo
Hiroshige died aged 62 during the great Edo cholera epidemic of 1858; whether the epidemic killed him is unknown.
1858
A farewell poem and a will that settles his debts
Just before his death Hiroshige left a farewell poem. He was never wealthy: his income amounted to about twice a day labourer's wages, and his will left instructions for the payment of his debts.
12 October 1858
Died