UTAGAWA, Hiroshige III.

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Dai Nihon bussan zue ("Products of Greater Japan"). A striking set of prints produced at the time of the First National Industrial Exhibition (1877), an event designed to promote Japanese local craftmanship and encourage a growing export industry. This example shows tatami mat production in Bingo (Hiroshima), indigo farming in Awa (Tokushima), camphor logging in Hyuga (Miyazaki), and whaling in Iki (Nagasaki).The First National Industrial Exhibition was held from 21 August to 30 November 1877, with a total of 16,172 exhibitors showing 84,353 items. "In anticipation of the event, the government clearly stated its interest in encouraging the growth of export industries and requested that every prefecture in Japan participate in the exhibition, suggesting that the domestic fairs were intended to provide a survey of the products and industries of the entire country and to offer a venue for assessing which of those products might be suitable for export" (Lavenberg).At the same time, Utagawa Hiroshige III (1842-1894) released approximately 120 prints showing local industries across Japan. He was known for his representations of Meiji period society and was one of the most popular artists of his age. Only 118 of the Dai nihon bussan zue prints survive, representing 58 provinces. These were sold as individual sheets that could be bound into books, with each book containing a different number and configuration of prints. The 30 prints in this example cover 14 provinces stretching from

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