The variety show "Kaiun! Nandemo Kanteidan" (TV Tokyo, Tuesdays 8:54pm) hosted by entertainer Koji Imada, freelance announcer Akira Fukuzawa, and former member of Sakurazaka46, Yuka Sugai, featured an ukiyo-e print by Hiroshige Utagawa, a master of landscape painting, that was framed for 1,000 yen.
About 15 years ago, the client purchased a frame for 1,000 yen at a recycle shop to put his certificate of passing a qualification exam in. He only looked at the edges of the frame before buying it, so it wasn't until he got home that he realized there was an ukiyo-e print inside. When he had it displayed in the entrance hall, a friend who was knowledgeable about art told him, "It doesn't look like a reproduction," which surprised him, and he decided to commission the work.
The requested work was "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo: A Shower at Ohashi Bridge, Atake," which Hiroshige created in his later years. Since the originals stored in museums and other places all have different colors, the client believed it was the real thing and "hopedfully" estimated the price at 500,000 yen.
However, the appraisal result exceeded expectations with an astonishing 2.5 million yen. According to Shoichiro Watanabe, CEO of Watanabe Woodblock Print Shop, who performed the appraisal, it is not the first printing, but rather "around the fourth printing," and he analyzed that it has been simplified from the first printing, which has careful shading. "Reprints are made based on the first printing, so it is unlikely that something like this fourth or fifth printing will be reprinted," he said, explaining that a first printing in good condition would be worth 15 to 20 million yen.
