Cherry Blossom Viewing at the Temple on Mt. Suribachi after a Design in Volume 5 of Picture Book of the Souvenirs of Edo (Ehon Edo miyage)

Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist known for the elegantly composed, atmospheric landscape prints that make him one of the most important printmakers in the history of art. Cherry Blossom Viewing at the Temple on Mt. Suribachi from after 1850 depicts cherry blossom viewing at the temple on Mt. Suribachi in the elegantly composed, atmospheric manner that distinguishes Hiroshige's best work from the more general printmaking of his contemporaries. Cherry blossom viewing (hanami) was one of the most important seasonal customs in Japanese culture, and Hiroshige's elegantly composed treatment shows the ukiyo-e tradition at its most atmospheric.

Cherry Blossom Viewing at the Temple on Mt. Suribachi is important in the history of Japanese printmaking because it demonstrates the elegantly composed, atmospheric manner that Hiroshige brought to landscape subjects as one of the most important printmakers in the history of art. Hiroshige's elegantly composed, atmospheric landscape prints—depicting one of the most important seasonal customs in Japanese culture with the atmospheric effect that is his most distinctive contribution—represent one of the most important traditions in the history of printmaking.

Cherry Blossom Viewing at the Temple on Mt. Suribachi is Hiroshige's atmospherically composed ukiyo-e print: cherry blossom viewing at a mountaintop temple rendered in the atmospheric manner of one of the most important printmakers in the history of art. The after 1850 print shows the seasonal custom of hanami at its most elegantly composed and atmospheric.