Utagawa Hiroshige III
1877 (Meiji 10)
Donated by Tanba Tsuneo
This image shows the harvesting of wax and its base ingredient, lacquer. The Aizu region has a long history of candle production, said to have begun around five hundred years ago when Lord Ashina Morinobu encouraged the planting of lacquer trees. The sap from the lacquer tree becomes the painting material for lacquer, and wax can be harvested from its seeds; this led to lacquerware and candles becoming the traditional products associated with the Aizu region.