This is a set of eight senjafuda prints produced in the late Taisho or early Showa period based on a series of uchiwa-e (rigid fan prints) designed by Hiroshige.

Hiroshige produced many uchiwa-e in his lifetime, many of which can be seen in the online collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum here. A book by Rupert Faulkner titled "Hiroshige Fan Prints" was published in 2001 based on the V&A's collection of Hiroshige uchiwa-e.

Uchiwa-e were popular in the Edo period as fashionable items which could be tucked into a fold of clothing for a pop of colour and were easily made by cutting a nishiki-e print to the right size and affixing it to a fan frame. Some prints were, however, made specially for the format.

In this set, fan-shaped designs have been reduced to fit the senjafuda format, and a background pattern, the names of the sponsors, and titles have been added. The outlines of four black rectangles framing the prints tell us that the designs are yoncho-fuda prints equal in size to four senjafuda placed next to each other.

In Taisho 13 (1924), the famous Kyoto-based publishing company Unsodo held an exhibition of Hiroshige's fan prints which may have refueled interest in the designs and led this senjafuda group to create similar prints.

The eight loose prints in this set came in a pasteboard box with a title slip, visible in the "Additional Images" section below.