Utagawa Hiroshige — the 19th-century ukiyo-e master whose woodblock prints of landscapes and weather made him one of Japan’s most internationally recognised artists — has an unexpected connection to whisky. Sakurao Distillery, based in Hiroshima Prefecture, has produced a limited collection that takes Hiroshige’s prints as its visual and conceptual framework: each expression inspired by a specific landscape, a specific quality of light and weather in the Japanese world Hiroshige depicted.
Hiroshige’s Landscapes
Hiroshige’s most celebrated works — including the “One Hundred Famous Views of Edo” and the “Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō” — capture Japan in transitions: rain falling on a mountain pass, snow settling on a river delta, evening light over water. What makes his work distinctive is not simply what is depicted, but the quality of atmosphere — the way weather and light and season make a place feel, rather than simply look. This is, Mika notes, a surprisingly apt framework for whisky: both are about capturing something transient in permanent form.
Mika’s Perspective
The Hiroshige Collection from Sakurao is one of those limited releases that works as a gift — both to drink and to display. But it is also genuinely good whisky: the coastal character, the Hiroshima water, the Seto Inland Sea influence in the maturation. The art is a frame; the whisky is real. Available at Bar Little Happiness. Read the original Japanese column: https://little-happiness.jp/columns/sakurao-hiroshige-collection-review/
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