Eight Views of the Elegant Sumida-gawa: Umewaka no Akizuki (Full moon of Umewaka)

One of the Eight Views of the Elegant Sumida-gawa series. The theme of this print is the Legend of Umewaka handed down from ancient times by the famous Mokuboji Temple as a deathbed poem that goes, “Oh black-hooded gull, if my mother visits and asks, tell her that I have become one, with the dew that lies at the source of the Sumida River.” Fooled into being brought from Kyoto, Umewaka Maru became sick and died at the Sumida Inn at the tender age of just twelve years old. His mother, Hanagozen, was so stricken with grief that she went insane, and it is said that she roamed around searching for her lost son. The print shows the two who were unable to meet in life happily enjoying a boat ride as the Heian Period turns into the Edo Period. The print was created between 1804 and 1818.