Hiroshige - The 53 Stations of the Tōkaidō, pt.1

The first in a series of posts, running intermittently, focusing on the Japanese art of Ukiyo-e woodblock printing and its artists.

Memorial Portrait of Hiroshige - Kunisada

絵 (E) – Picture; painting.

浮世 (Ukiyo) – A floating world; impermanent. Evanescent pleasures that exist only in the moment; lighting upon the palm of one’s hand, before with sorrow the wind carries them on their way. Life and all its ephemeral desires will fade, and so one should live for the moment, enjoying each pleasure as it appears, passing from one day to the next.

浮世絵 (Ukiyo-e) - Pictures of the Floating World.
 

Evening Shower at Atake and the Great Bridge - Hiroshige, c.1856-58. (+)

In 1600, Tokugawa Ieyasu unofficially established the last shogunate to rule over Japan after defeating those forces loyal to Hideyori and the western clans at The Battle for the Sundered Realm. Three years later he was declared shogun by Emperor Go-Yozei, and so began the Edo Period; a time of prolonged relative peace, the emergence and growth of the urban bourgeois classes, and a subsequent antiquity in classical Japanese art, from which the art form of Ukiyo-e emerged, and came to define an era. 

Ieyasu moved the seat of government from Kyoto, the Imperial capital, to Edo (present day Tokyo) in order to consolidate his power around his main supporters, and to escape the rich arts and culture of Kyoto, which he feared would corrupt and tempt his generals. To further his control over Japan he had 5 routes constructed that were to form the major arteries of Japanese trade and commerce, allowing speedy travel and communication through the heart of the country. His grandson Tokugawa Ietsuna raised the importance of these routes and had post stations constructed along the way at which travellers could rest and replenish supplies. 

Of these five, The Tōkaidō was to be the busiest, and the most crucial, starting in Edo at Nihon-bashi, with the other five routes, running down the Pacific coast to Kyoto. The Tōkaidō had 53 government post stations along its 490km (300 mile) stretch, some being open to all, some requiring travel permits to pass through. Tokugawa Ieyasu required all the previous warlords and daimyo of Japan to move their families to Edo, so as to be under his watchful eye, and the purpose of some of these checkpoints was to prevent the escape of warlords' female relations, fleeing the city. Punishments for illegal crossings included crucifixion, so it was vitally important to remember your passport. 

Hiroshige was born in Edo in 1797, by the age of 8 he was an orphan, and by 9 he had produced his first major painting. His most internationally renowned work was the Hōeidō edition of the 53 stations, which he constructed in woodblock from sketches made on his travels down this road. It is the greatest selling series of Ukiyo-e prints of all time and established the genre of landscape art within the medium. 

The Hōeidō edition, published 1833-34, proved so popular that Hiroshige went on to produce many other versions of the 53 stations, accumulating in roughly 2000 prints by the time of his death in 1858. Here is part one of the original Hōeidō edition, otherwise known as the First, or the Great Tōkaidō.

日本橋朝の景 (Nihonbashi, Morning's View) - Chūō-ku (Edo) (+)

This print shows the head of a daimyo's procession crossing Nihonbashi bridge, "The Bridge of Japan", with six street hawkers in the foreground. The bridge marks the beginning of the Tōkaidō and Nakasendō roads to Kyōtō. It is the point from which the Japanese measure distances and all signs giving the distance to Tokyo (modern day Edo) give it to Nihonbashi bridge. 

 

Kilometer Zero - The plague found in the centre of Nihonbashi bridge to mark the point at which you would be exactly 'in' Tokyo.

 

Evening Shower at Nihonbashi Bridge - Hiroshige, c.1832

Here is another perspective of the bridge produced by Hiroshige around a year earlier. It demonstrates the perfect view of Mount Fuji that could be seen from the bridge. However, the city has grown in all directions since then, and for the 1964 Summer Olympics officials built a large expressway over the bridge; meaning that it no longer offers such a pleasant view. 

Nihonbashi in 2005.

1. 品川日の出 (Shinagawa Sunrise) - Shinagawa (Edo) (+)

 

 This print shows a procession including two porters and two bowmen walking up the village street from the bay at dawn. Shinagawa-juku was one of the Four Stations of Edo, which were the first stations on the 5 routes that still fell within the prefecture of Edo. Shinagawa could be taken as meaning 'River of Goods, or, River of Quality', and is situated on the edge of Tokyo Bay where, in 1853, door to door American capitalism salesman Matthew Perry, on the advice of a faulty guide book, mistranslated the Japanese for "Nobody's in, go away" as, "No please, fire your big cannons at our buildings till we promise to trade with you, it won't cause resentment that will play a part in some form of massively belated payback with some planes and your precious big ships giving you cause to fire the mother and father of all cannonballs back". 

Today Shinagawa Port district still functions as a post-station of a sort, with many hotels set up around the area for travellers coming in from Shinagawa station. As for being a river of goods, the ward is home to many major companies including Namco Bandai, Isuzu, Adobe systems and Japanese Airlines (JAL).

Marker at the beginning of Tōkaidō road.

2.川崎六郷の渡し (The Rokugo Ferry at Kawasaki) - Kawasaki (Kanagawa)(+)

This print shows the Rokugo ferry crossing the Tama River whilst passengers wait at the other side, with a small village behind the trees and a view of Mount Fuji rising out of the wisps of clouds in the distance. Whilst it was the last station to be built, in 1623, it was the first major crossing for travellers from Edo as the Tama River was, as indeed it still is, very prone to flooding. Floods in the past have changed the river's course and divided whole towns in two, creating opposing settlements with the same name. It is near to Heiken-ji, a major Buddhist temple, and as such this crossing was used by many followers on their way to worship. The crossing was so busy that trade flourished in this area and raised Kawasaki's profile; helping it become the modern day major city it is.

3.神奈川暮の景 (Kanagawa Sunset) - Yokohama (Kanagawa)(+)

This print depicts travellers climbing the steep road that passes through the station whilst courtesans attempt to drag them into the tea houses that line the path. To the left is Kanagawa Bay. The station runs parallel with Kanagawa Port which is situated on the opposite shore in Naka-ku, and the area flourished from the combined trade of travellers on the Tōkaidō, and goods on their way to Sagami Province. Most of the historical points of interest in this town where destroyed by the Great Kantō Earthquake of 1923, and American fire bombings during WWII, and prints such as these are most of what survive to give an accurate portrayal of what the station was like during this time. 

Kanagawa is also the place in which another great Ukiyo-e artist, Hokusai, set his most famous composition, 'The Great Wave off Kanagawa', which will almost undoubtedly be featured in later posts, but as a nice way to round off, here it is anyway, damn hypocritical populist as I am.

The Great Wave off Kanagawa - Hokusai, c.1830-33. (+)