National Treasures & Important Cultural Properties
of National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan

In the spring of Kansei 5 (1793), Matsudaira Sadanobu (1758–1829), a shogun's councilor, made an inspection tour along the coast of the Sagami and Izu regions at the order of the shogunate, for the purpose of coastal defense and security. He appointed Tani Bunchō to paint scenes of the different places, and named the paintings Kouyo Tanshō. Each picture consists of two sheets combined together (except for the Ishirō-zaki-zu [Scenery of Cape Ishirō], which has four sheets). Some of them have a small gap where the two sheets join, or ruled lines of sumi for framing left on the paper. This is thought to be because this set was originally a two-fold booklet arranged as a sketchbook by making a frame with ruled lines of sumi for each spread, and later the insides of the frame lines were cut out, which then were made into the present form of two volumes of rolled books. There are seventy-nine paintings in them. The first volume consists of forty pictures, from Bushū Kanagawa to Kakizaki Sanchū Nanbō, and the second volume consists of thirty-nine, from Sono Ni (Kakizaki Sanchū Nanbō Continued) to Bushū Kanazawa Shōten-san Kyūrantei Kyūseki Chōbō. Most of all, these pictures were for the purpose of the policies and system of coastal defense. Nonetheless, Bunchō's creative urge is evident in a number of aspects, such as the sky he paints in a shade of deep blue, the mountains shaded with subtle variations of pale sumi black, and his emphasis on perspective. Moreover, his detailed descriptions of the names of mountains, rivers, islands, and ruins in the pictures exceed the levels of mere record, offering tangible information about those names and places.At the end of the second volume, the author wrote, "April Kanei five, I painted these when the councilor inspected the coast of Izu and Sagami, Tani Bunchō," along with the signature-seal with letters "Bunchō" in red. Formerly owned by the Matsudaira family in the former Kuwana-han.