The Kisokaidō route through Japan was ordained in the early 1600s by the country’s then-ruler Tokugawa Ieyasu, who decreed that staging posts be installed along the length of the
arduous passage between Edo (present-day Tokyo) and Kyoto
. Inns, shops, and restaurants were established to provide sustenance and lodging to weary travelers. In 1835, renowned woodblock print artist
Keisai Eisen
was commissioned to create a series of works to chart the Kisokaidō journey. After producing 24 prints, Eisen was replaced by
Utagawa Hiroshige
, who completed the series of 70 prints in 1838.
Both
Eisen and Hiroshige were master print practitioners
. In
The Sixty-Nine Stations along the Kisokaidō
, we find the artists’ distinct styles as much as their shared expertise. From the busy starting post of Nihonbashi to the castle town of Iwamurata, Eisen opts for a more muted palette but excels in figuration, particularly of
glamorous women
, and relishes
snapshots of activity along the route
, from shoeing a horse to winnowing rice. Hiroshige demonstrates his mastery of landscape with
grandiose and evocative scenes
, whether it’s the
peaceful banks of the Ota River, the forbidding Wada Pass
, or a moonlit ascent between Yawata and Mochizuki.
Taken as a whole,
The Sixty-Nine Stations
collection represents not only a masterpiece of woodblock practice, including
bold compositions
and an
experimental use of color
, but also
a
charming tapestry of 19th-century Japan, long before the specter of industrialization
. This TASCHEN volume is sourced from
one of the finest surviving first editions
and revives the series in our compact anniversary edition.