The Sixty-nine Post Stations of the Kisokaidô Road,

Part I

(Kisokaidô rokujûku tsugi, 木曾街道六十九次之内)

1852-1853

The Kisokaidô Road was an inland route connecting Edo (present day Tokyo) with Kyoto. (The costal route between Edo and Kyoto was the Tôkaidô Road). There were sixty-nine rest stops along the Kisokaidô Road. In this series, Kuniyoshi designed one print for each of the sixty-nine rest stops plus prints for Edo and Kyoto, as well as a title page. The main design of each print portrays a historical, legendary of fictional scene associated with the location. A small panel in each print shows a view of the station. Most of the prints are numbered, but there are slight inconsistencies in the numbering. The prints in this series are each about 14 by 10 inches (36 by 25 centimeters), a size known as ôban.

	Title page Number on print: none Publisher: Minato-ya Kohei Robinson: S74.1 NOTE: The sake barrel wrapped in straw is inscribed Edo jiman Nihon ichi (Pride of Edo, unique in Japan), which was almost certainly a paid advertisement. I am grateful to Ward Pieters for locating this image.
	Station: Nihonbashi (日本橋, bridge at the origin of the Kisokaidô Road) Number on print: 1 Main scene: Sumô wrestlers Nuregami Katsunosuke (鳴神勝之助) and Ukiyo Watabei (浮世渡平) quarrelling on the Nihonbashi watched by Ashikaga Yorikane (足利頼兼) Insert: street scene Publisher: Tsujioka-ya Bunsuke Robinson: S74.2
	Station: Itabashi (板橋) Number on print: 2 Main scene: Inudzuka Shino (犬塚 信乃) holding on to a tree in the water while Sabojirô (左母二郎) swims towards him and Totarô (土太郎) sits on a boat in the background (a scene from Bakin’s novel Hakkenden) Insert: river scene Publisher: Sumiyoshi-ya Masagorô Robinson: S74.3
	Station: Warabi (蕨) Number on print: 3 Main scene: Inuyama Dôsetsu (犬山道節) seated amid flames with a magic pine branch wrapped in paper in his mouth Insert: village road Publisher: Izutsu-ya Shôkichi Robinson: S74.4
	Station: Urawa (浦和) Number on print: 4 Main scene: Uoya (fishmonger) Danshichi (魚屋團七) emptying a bucket of water over himself to clean off mud Insert: uphill road Publisher: Sumiyoshi-ya Masagorô Robinson: S74.5
	Station: Ômiya (大宮) Number on print: 5 Main scene: The captive rebel Abe no Munetô (安倍宗任) kneeling before Minister Fujiwara no Mitsuyori Insert: roadside teahouse Publisher: Takeda-ya Takezô Robinson: S74.6
	Station: Ageo (上尾) Number on print: 6 Main scene: The actor Bandô Shuka as the courtesan Miura no Takao (三浦の髙雄) being weighed against oval gold coins, some stacked and wrapped in paper Insert: village and rice paddies Publisher: Hayashi-ya Shôgorô Robinson: S74.7
	Station: Okegawa (桶川) Number on print: 7 Main scene: Tamaya Shimbei (玉屋新兵ヱ) imprisoned in a huge wooden tub being given a drink by a girl under the direction of Kojorô (小女郎) Insert: landscape with pine trees Publisher: Sumiyoshi-ya Masagorô Robinson: S74.8
	Station: Kônosu (鴻巣) Number on print: none Main scene: Musashi no Kami Moronao (武藏守師直) in the snow being hustled off to a hiding place under firewood Insert: roadside village with distant hills Publisher: Yahata-ya Sakujirô Robinson: S74.9
	Station: Kumagaya (熊谷) Number on print: 9 Main scene: Kojirô Nao-ie (小次郎直家) armored and mounted at the base of a castle wall on the shore of a lake Insert: road with bearers carrying a palanquin Publisher: Yahata-ya Sakujirô Robinson: S74.10
	Station: Fukaya (深谷) Number on print: 10 Main scene: Yuriwaka Daijin (百合若大臣) shooting with his huge bow before two dumfounded spectators Insert: road with rest house and pine trees Publisher: Kaga-ya Yasubei Robinson: S74.11
	Station: Honjô (本庄) Number on print: 11 Main scene: Shirai Gompachi (白井権八) sheathing his sword with a purse in his mouth in the rain Insert: roadside village with marsh behind Publisher: Minato-ya Kohei Robinson: S74.12
	Station: Shimmachi (新町) Number on print: 12 Main scene: Encounter of Gokumon Shôhei (獄門庄兵衛) and Kurofune Chûemon (黒舩忠右ヱ門) on a bridge Insert: distant mountain across a lake Publisher: Ise-ya Kanekichi Robinson: S74.13
	Station: Kuragano (倉加野) Number on print: 13 Main scene: the bandit Jiraiya (自来也) with two followers seated by a fire under a huge pine tree Insert: hilly road through mountains Publisher: Sumiyoshi-ya Masagorô Robinson: S74.14
	Station: Takazaki (高崎) Number on print: 14 Main scene: Konomura Ôinosuke (此村大炊之介) holding an unrolled painting of a hawk on a pine branch from which the hawk comes to life and flies off Insert: village at the foot of a mountain Publisher: Yahata-ya Sakujirô Robinson: S74.15
	Station: Itahana (板花) Number on print: 15 Main scene: Onzôshi Ushiwaka Maru (御曹子牛若丸) discomfiting two tengu at fencing Insert: trees and a cloud-shrouded mountain Publisher: Hayashi-ya Shôgorô Robinson: S74.16 NOTE: Tengu are forest-dwelling creatures that are either human-like with wings and long noses or bird-like.
	Another state of the above design printed with different colors
	Station: Annaka (安中) Number on print: 16 Main scene: Seigen (清玄) the monk praying to Fudô, sees a vision of his beloved Sakura-hime Insert: moonlit village with distant hills Publisher: Kaga-ya Yasubei Robinson: S74.17
	Station: Matsuida (松井田) Number on print: 17 Main scene: Matsui Minjirô (松井民次郎) watching two snakes in a river with Yama-uba (山姥) seated on a rock Insert: trees, rice paddies and distant mountains Publisher: Tsujioka-ya Bunsuke Robinson: S74.18
	Station: Sakamoto (坂本) Number on print: 18 Main scene: Samurai and child on a road near a teahouse in Gojôzaka (五条坂) Insert: man leading a horse along a mountain road Publisher: Minato-ya Kohei Robinson: S74.19
	Station: Karuizawa (軽井澤)　 Number on print: 19 Main scene: Kamada Matahachi (鎌田叉八) at the base of a huge red temple-pillar Insert: Road amid hills with band of mist Publisher: Takeda-ya Takezô Robinson: S74.20
	Station: Kutsukake (沓掛) Number on print: 20 Main scene: The Han Dynasty hero Chôryô (張良, Chang Liang) fitting a shoe he retrieved from the river on Kôsekikô (黄石公) Insert: mountain with band of mist and rooftops in the foreground Publisher: Ise-ya Kanekichi Robinson: S74.21
	Station: Oiwake (追分) Number on print: 21 Main scene: The deformed O-Iwa (おいは) squeezing blood from a hank of her hair watched by her husband Ieyoshi Insert: travelers on a road through rice paddies under a full moon Publisher: Takeda-ya Takezô Robinson: S74.22 NOTE: O-Iwa was married to a man named Iemon. A wealthy lady fell in love with Iemon, and he fell in love with her money. Iemon had his servant poison O-Iwa. She became weak, lost her hair and her face became deformed. She was then treated cruelly by the people around her, and she died holding a grudge against them. After her death many strange things happened, and all of the people who had mistreated her died.
	Station: Odai (小田井) Number on print: 22 Main scene: Teranishi Kanshin (寺西閑心), his kimono patterned with skeletons, standing by a tied-up bearer and three barrels of sake Insert: a road among hills and pine trees at sunset Publisher: Ise-ya Kanekichi Robinson: S74.23
	Station: Iwamurata (岩村田) Number on print: 23 Subtitle: Ôiko Waters the Fields (Ôiko tahata o uruosu, 大井子田畑を潤す) Main scene: The strong woman Ôiko damming a river with a boulder Insert: rice paddies and distant mountains with a band of mist Publisher: Kaga-ya Yasubei Robinson: S74.24
	Station: Shionada (塩名田) Number on print: 24 Main scene: Torii Matasuke (鳥井又助) wringing out his loincloth and holding a severed head in his teeth Insert: evening landscape with mountains, trees and fields Publisher: Tsujioka-ya Bunsuke Robinson: S74.25

“Robinson” refers to listing in Kuniyoshi: The Warrior-Prints by Basil William Robinson (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 1982) and its privately published supplement.

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