Famous Views of the Fifty-three Stations of the
Tôkaidô
(Tôkaidô go-jû-san eki
roku shuku meisho, 東海道五拾三駅四宿名所)
Publishers: Tsuru-ya Kihei
and Tsuta-ya Kichizô
c. 1835
The
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Number: 1 (Nihonbashi, Shinagawa, Description: This print
depicts four stations, each identified by a small label. The first is Nihonbashi
( Schaap: 20.1 |
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Number: 2 (Hodogaya,
Totsuka, Description: Yellow labels
placed throughout the abstract mountain ridge indicate Schaap: 20.2 |
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This is another example of the above design. It was printed from the same woodblocks,
but the printer applied more black ink to the sky and foreground in order to
create a night scene. |
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This is yet another variant of the same image kindly supplied by
Richard Illing.
It has blue shading (bokashi)
in the foreground, different mid-ground mists and different patterns on some
of the garments. |
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Yet another state with a green foreground |
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Number: 3 (Ôiso, Odawara, Hakone, Mishima
and Description: Travelers
marveling at the Koshiseki (also known as Tora’s
Rock and Tiger Cub Rock). The
mountains of Hakone are known for displaying a multitude of colors. Schaap: 20.3 |
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Number: 4 (Hara, Yoshiwara and Kambara Stations) Description: This print shows
travelers on a road heading towards Schaap: 20.4 |
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Another state of the above design. The seal in the right-lower corner is
probably a collector’s seal. |
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Number: 5 (Yui, Okitsu, Ejiri, Fuchû and Mariko
Stations) Description: In the
foreground, two travelers rest on a hillside labeled Mariko and look out
towards the seacoast towns of Fuchû and Ejiri. In the
distance, a famous pine grove on Schaap: 20.5 |
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Number: 6 (Okabe,
Fujieda, Shimada and Kanaya Stations) Description: Travelers who
have just crossed the Ôi River from Shimada on the
eastern shore to Kanaya on the west. The steep incline at the right at Fujieda
is juxtaposed with the angle of the road in the foreground where a traveler
on horseback and his companion trudge uphill; the contrasting lines of these
two hills frame the space of the distant shoreline. Schaap: 20.6 |
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Another state of the above print |
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Number: 7 (Nissaka, Kakegawa, Fukuroi, Mitsuke and Description: This print is
the closest in the series to being an uninhabited landscape, but travelers
can be discerned as black dots on the mountains of Nissaka
to the right. The blue circle in the
right lower corner is a famous rock at Sayo
Nakayama called Yonakiseki. A legend relates how this rock summoned
Kannon (Buddhist goddess of mercy) when bandits murdered a pregnant woman
there. The infant was saved and
eventually avenged his mother’s death.
Kakegawa, Fukuroi
and Mitsuke are each shown as a cluster of huts in
the mountainous region. Schaap: 20.7 |
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Number: 8 (Maisaka, Arai, Shirasuka, Futakawa, Yoshida and Goyû
Stations) Description: The large
sailboat in the foreground is a ferry that sails between Maisaka
and Arai. Shirasuka, Futakawa,
Yoshida, and Goyû are indicated by labels along the
distant mountains. Schaap: 20.8 |
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Number: 9 (Akasaka,
Fujikawa, Description: Kuniyoshi’s
family were silk dyers, and Narumi was renowned for its stencil-dyed
fabrics. Newly dyed fabrics are drying
in the wind at right as workers carry bolts of cloth to the river to wash and
prepare for dyeing. The landscape
across the river shows the Yahagi trestle bridge at Okazaki, which was the
longest bridge in Japan at the time. Akasaka,
Fujikawa, and Chiryu Stations are indicated on the
mountains in the distance. Schaap: 20.9 |
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Number: 10 (Miya, Kuwana, Description: Blind
itinerant priests are entering the Atsuta Shinto Shrine in Miya, which is
marked by a wooden tori
at left. Schaap: 20.10 |
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Number: 11 (Shôno, Kameyama, Seki, Sakanoshita and Tsuchiyama
Stations) Description: A
snow-covered valley with two travelers climbing a mountain in the right
foreground Schaap: 20.11 |
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Number: 12 (Minakuchi, Ishibe, Kusatsu, Ôtsu and Description: Travelers are
walking along the road from Mizuguchi to Ishibe
past Schaap: 20.12 |
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This series of prints contains many
seals and inscriptions. The small
yellow rectangles indicate names of regions and noteworthy places. The following table lists other
inscriptions and seals found in this series.
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“Schaap” refers to
listing in Heroes and Ghosts: Japanese
Prints by Kuniyosh by Robert Schaap (Hotei Publishing, Leiden, 1998). CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO MAIN
PAGE |