the wisteria at kameido

kono fuji wa
hayaku sakitari
Kameido no
fuji sakamaku wa
tōka mari nochi

these wisteria
have bloomed early...
the blossoming of
those at Kameido will be
more than ten days later

Masaoka Shiki
translator: Janine Beichman

seven years after helen hyde went to japan for the first time at the age of 31, she was quoted in january 1906 issue of harper's bazar as saying, "japan is a gem, a revelation, a new world filled with art possibilities beyond one's dreams."









hyde had already become an artist, an illustrator; growing up in san francisco and studying in paris had already given her a taste for, a delight in, the 'exotic,' the unexpected, the foreign, the unknown.





during her eleven years living in japan, hyde studied the japanese style of printmaking, studying with other westerners at first, and then with the japanese masters themselves.











this page has images of the bridge at kameido, near tokyo, as seen by several different artists. ms. hyde's is the one at the top left. if you like her work, you will find a great deal of her work online.











('moon bridge at kameido,' helen hyde, 1914; 'half moon bridge,' toshi yoshida, 1941; 'kameido bridge,' hiroshi yoshida, 1927; 'wisteria at kameido tenjin shrine,' hiroshige ando, 1856; photo, ca. 1895; 'kameido bridge,' koitsu tsuchiya, 1933.)

for really cool coverage of this beautiful place and the artists who have loved it, check out this site

this original bridge was destroyed in world war two, and has been rebuilt.