The masterpiece arts of Utagawa Hiroshige, “Fifty-Three Stages on the Tokaido”
Utagawa (Ando) Hiroshige led the field of landscape printing in ukiyo-e. Especially, “Fifty-Three Stages on the Tokaido” is one of the most highly regarded woodblock printings series in Japanese art.
Nihonbashi, the morning (Senkakudo edition)
Nihonbashi, the morning (Houeido edition)
1.Shinagawa, the sunrise
2.Kawasaki, the ferryboat at Rokugo
3.Kanagawa, the view from the hill
4. Hodogaya, Shinmachi Bridge
5.Totsuka, Motomachi frontage road
6.Fujisawa, Yugyouji Temple
7.Hiratsuka, the footpath
8.Oiso, the duzzling rain
9. Odawara, the travellers crossing Sakawa River
10. Hakone, the view of Ashinoko Lake
11.Mishima, the mornig fog
12.Numazu, the dusk
13.Hara, Mt,Fuji in the morning
14.Yoshiwara, Mt.Fuji on the left-side
15.Kambara, the snow in the night, by Utagawa Hiroshige
16.Yui, Satta Pass
17.Okitsu, Okitsu River
18.Ejiri, the distant view of Miho
19.Fuchu, Abe River
20.Mariko, the famous tea store
21.Okabe, Utsunoya Pass
22.Fujieda, the people and horses relay
23.Shimada, the crossing Oi River on the horses
24.Kanaya, the distant view of Ooi River
25.Hisaka, Sayononakayama Mountain
26.Kakegawa, the distant view of Akibayama Mountain
27.Fukuroi, the tea store
28.Mitsuke, Tenryu River
29.Hamamatsu, the desolate wintry
30.Maisaka, the landscape of Imagiri
31.Arai, the ferryboats
32.Shirasuka, Shiomizaka
33.Futagawa, Sarugababa
34.Yoshida, Toyokawa Bridge
35.Goyu, the tourting women
36.Akasaka, the travelers and hostesses at an Inn
37.Fujikawa, the boundary marker
38.Okazaki, Yahagi Bridge
39.Chiryu, the horse market in summer
40.Narumi, the famous Arimatsu tie-dyed fabrics
41.Miya, the riligious festival at Atsuta Shrine
42.Kuwana, the landing entry of Shichiri ferry
43.Yotsukaichi, Mie River
44.Ishiyakushi, Ishiyakushi Temple
45.Shono, the evening squall
46.Kameyama, the clear sky after snow
47.Seki, the early deperture from the main camp
48.Sakanoshita, Fudesute Mountain
49.Tsuchiyama, the spring rain
50.Minakuchi, the speciality of dried guard shavings
51.Ishibe, Mekawa villege
52.Kusatsu, the famous rest house
53.Otsu, the Hashiri tea store
54.Kyoto, the Great Sanjo Bridge
[su_label type=”black”]One of the famous landscape ukiyo-e woodblock prints[/su_label]
When he started to draw the paintings around 1833, “Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji” , by the most famous ukiyo-e artist Katsushika Hokusai, depicted the Japanese symbolic mountain was had dominated ukiyo-e market.
Thanks in partly to the popularity of the landscape printings, “Fifty-Three Stages on the Tokaido” really rang the bell and he became the sought-after artist in Edo Period.
It depicted the state of people and the views of post towns on Tokaido(Edo-Kyoto highway). The distance from Nihonbashi at the departure point to the end point Kyoto is around 500 km. The walking of Edo people for the distance took from 13 to 15 days.
Before working with the series, Hiroshige joined the shogunate’s procession for presenting the horses to the Emperor from Edo to Kyoto and drew the rough sketches of the post towns.