Yukimi (雪見)
Yukimi is one of the Japanese folkways since the medieval period, where people enjoy watching the snowing or the snowscape.
"Yukimi Fune Zu," an ukiyoe landscape painted by Kuniyoshi UTAGAWA who was famous in the late Edo period (the early-modern times in Japan) is a representative example describing yukimi. Another example is 'Koishikawa Yuki no Ashita' (The Snowing Morning in Koishikawa) which is one of the paintings in the "Thirty-six Sceneries of Mt. Fuji," a master piece painted by Hokusai KATSUSHIKA (refer to the picture on the right).
In the present day, people often view the winter scenery from somewhere warm such as inside the house.
People also enjoy things that make them warm during yukimi such as yukimizake (sake drinking while enjoying a snow scene) or yukimiburo (bathing while enjoying a snow scene).
Art works in relation to yukimi
Ukiyoe landscapes
"Yukimi Fune Zu" by Kuniyoshi UTAGAWA.
"Thirty-six Sceneries of Mt. Fuji, Koishikawa Yuki no Ashita." "Thirty-six Sceneries of Mt. Fuji" were painted during 1823-1835 by Hokusai KATSUSHIKA, and this particular painting was the fifth among the total 46 paintings published. It paints a scene where a connoisseur surrounded by several beautiful women is watching the Mt. Fuji covered with snow from a feast place in the second floor of a fancy Japanese-style restaurant. Koishikawa (礫川) refers to Koishikawa (小石川), an area in the current Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo. In the Edo period, Koishikawa included areas not only around the Koishikawa Village in Toshima County, Musashi Province but also the areas from the Kanda Josui (Kanda water supply), which is the current Suidobashi Station area, to Hakusan (Bunkyo Ward).