Just after the success of “Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji”, popular ukiyo-e artist among Edo people, Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) produced the famous waterfalls ukiyo-e series “A Tour of Japanese Waterfalls” from 1833 to 1837.
When he drew the pitcures, he used the name of “former Hokusai and Iitsu” for the signature. Because he give Hokusai to his disciple and took new name Iitsu(為一).
In the prints series, he showed the eight famous falls in Japan. They depict not only the place of scenic beauty, but also the lives of people who was familiar to the waterside.
Some of the Shinto ascetics did the water discipline under the Ono Falls(小野の滝). Utagawa Hiroshig(1797-1858) also drew the waterfalls as Agematsu in the series of “Sixty-Nine Stations of the Nakasendō(木曽街道六十九次).
The hight of the Amida Falls(阿弥陀の滝) is 80m. The name originated from that one monk prayed in the near cave, and Amida-nyorai appeared. We can see the stream through the round shape.
Yoro Falls(養老の滝) have a legend that a dutiful son scooped the water from the falls for his father. When he came back to the home, the water had changed into the alcoholic drink. It really made happy the father.
Many Edo people visit Ooyama Mountain in Kanagawa prefecture to pray. Before they climb the mountain, they did the water discipline under the Roben Falls at the foot for purifying.
One of the big three waterfalls in Nikko. The tourists enjoyed the falls before they visit Toshogu Shrine.
The falls have the story that Minamoto Yoshitsune(源義経), the brother of the founder of Kamakura shogunate, washed his horse by the water. The traveler in Edo Period also would have done as the same.
Aoigaoka Falls(葵ヶ岡の滝) at Akasaka, Edo don’t exist now. It would be not much of a falls, but Edo people might have love it.
It was said that the Buddha statue of Amida-nyorai, Juichimen-kannon, and Zizo-bosatsu was placed near the falls. So a lot of visitor saw Kiyotaki(清滝) in Edo Period.
The ukiyo-e museums in Tokyo.
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