J_A_P_A_N все записи автора

 

1 Nihonbashi (Eisen)
The Nihonbashi Bridge was the starting point of "ichiri-zuka" mileposts (ichiri = 2.44 miles) installed along highways around the country in 1604 (9th year of Keicho).
Sunrise over Edo. View of the canal with the sun, cut by streaks of mist, rising behind the houses, crowds by the bridge, and coolies pushing a cart laden with bales over it.
 

2 Itabashi (Eisen)
The place name of Itabashi came from the Itabashi Bridge over the Shakujii River. This is a humorous scene where a palanquin bearer is touting a travelling couple, probably man and wife, for use of palanquins but the couple is hurrying away, pretending not to hear him.
A man shoeing a horse by a roadside hut; on the left, the first houses of the village.
 

3 Warabi (Eisen)
Ferry over the Toda River. A large ferry-boat laden with passengers and a horse being poled across the river, travellers and horses waiting on the further bank; tow herons flying over the boat.
 

 

4 Urawa (Eisen)
The mountain smoking at left is Mt. Asama. This volcano is actually 120 km away from here and therefore much smaller. The town on the other side of the bridge may be the post town of Omiya. A packhorse driver is leading a horse.
 

5 Omiya (Eisen)
Omiya means "Grand Shrine." In fact, Omiya had the Korigawa Shrine, which was the largest of Shinto shrines in the province of Musashi. This post town was known to have the greatest number of "honjins" and "waki-honjins" (inns appointed for daimyos and their troupes) on the Kisokaido Highway. Mt. Fuji, showing its beautiful figure in the picture, is actually about 100 km away from here.
 

6 Ageo (Eisen)
The Kisokaido Highway, which took an inland route of this country, first crossed the great plain of Kanto. At the station of Ageo located about 31 km from the Nihonbashi Bridge, the road was still flat and straight. The vertical flags standing in the precincts of the Grand Shrine of Kamo are advertising "Takenouchi" and "Hoeidoh", the publishers of these prints.
The Shinto Temple of Kamo, with a rest house outside the grounds, and peasants winnowing rice in front of it. 
 

7 Okegawa (Eisen)
The post town of Okegawa prospered as a centre of safflower-growing. On this autumn day, a traveller is speaking to a peasant woman busy threshing "Nakasendo wheat" outside a thatched hut. Probably he is asking directions to the Kano-Tenjin Shrine which had famous heated mineral baths curative of many diseases.
 

8 Konosu (Eisen)
The location is some point in today's Fukiage township near the city of Gyoda, which used to be a castle town known for the production of Japanese-style socks.
A distant view of Fuji seen across fields, and porters passing along; on the left a pilgrim in a large basket-hat.
 

9 Kumagaya (Eisen)
In the Kamakura period, this area was the fief of Kumagaya-Jiro Naozane who served under Minamoto Yoritomo (1147-1199), the first Minamoto Shogun. The name of this post town came from his name.
A traveller arriving at the cross-roads, at the entrance to the village, in a kago, and another, on foot, chatting to him; on the left, a woman serving two coolies at a wayside tea-house, and behind a horse feeding with his nose in a bucket. On the extreme right a road-direction post, and behind it a shrine, with a stone figure inside and a candle burning in front of it; the embankment stretching away behind in the distance uphill.
 

10 Fukaya (Eisen)
A group of women, guided by one leading with a lantern, passing along the street.
This is a scene of the entertainment quarters in the post town of Fukaya. In painting this picture, Eisen, who was known more as a painter of beautiful women than as a landscapist, did justice to his fame. The travellers and the houses lining the street in the background are simply dark figures in the dusk of the evening. The individual carriages of five prostitutes walking along the street are depicted by a vivid touch.

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11 Honjo (Eisen)
The Kisokaido Highway became gradually hilly from here on. The stone lantern in the foreground was installed with collection money. The contributors inscribed on the lantern included such big names as Issa the haiku poet and Raiden the sumo wrestler. The mountains in the background may be Mt. Akagi, Mt. Haruna and Mt. Myogi from right to left. Crossing the Kanna River, travellers entered Joshu province.
 

12 Shinmachi
The river was called the Nukui River or the Karasu River. The mountain looking like Mt. Fuji in the left-hand background is Mt. Akagi. The travellers trudging along in the twilight look tired out after a day's journey.
 

13 Kuragano (Eisen)
The post town of Kuragano was surrounded by the Tone River, the Karasu River and the Kabura River. When the water was high, there were boat services down to Edo. Here the Nikko-reihei-shido Road, used by the offering missions of the Imperial Court to visit the Nikko Toshogu Shrine, branched off from the Kisokaido Highway. In this picture, Eisen combined figure painting with a landscape.
 

14 Takasaki
The city of Takasaki today has Mt. Haruna, Lake Haruna and many other sights to see, including a number of ancient burial mounds and the Daruma Temple. In the Edo period, it was already a fairly large castle town of Matsudaira Ukyonosuke holding a fief yielding 82,000 koku of rice. In the picture, a beggar is begging a travelling couple for alms, with the Karasu River and Mt. Haruna in the background.
 

15 Itabana (Eisen)
The place is near the entrance to the post town of Itahana. Stone images of "Bato-Kannon" (Horse-headed Kannon, the guardian god of horses) and "Dosojin" (the travellers guardian deity) stand quietly along the highway, and the river flows with an abundance of clear water. Travellers in straw or other raincoats are hurrying through the snow. This picture is well-known as the "Snow Scene of Itahana" of Eisen.
 

16 Annaka
Annaka was a castle town of Itakura Iyonomori commanding a fief of 30,000 koku. This feudal lord was famous for having his retainers run marathon races up to the Usui Pass during the Ansei era. A little further on beyond the slope of this picture is a famous stretch of the Kisokaido flanked with magnificent rows of Japanese cedars, which are today a natural monument of the country.
 

17 Matsuida
The post town of Matsuida was at the foot of Mt. Myogi, one of the three famous mountains of Jomo province. Between here and Sakamoto was the "Usui-no-seki", which was among the four most important checking stations in Japan. For those who wanted to avoid this checkpoint, there was a byway called "Hime-kaido" (Female Road) leading to Oiwake over the mountains. Even today, the town retains the air of the old-time post town.
 

18 Sakamoto (Eisen)
The post town of Sakamoto was located between the Checking Station of Usui to the east and the treacherous Usui Pass to the west. As sung in a packhorse driver's song, there was heavy traffic of travellers through this town on the way to or from Edo.
 

19 Karuizawa
Karuizawa developed as the first post town in the province of Shinshu where travellers could take a rest after a long ascent of the Usui Pass (about 1,180 m above sea level). The street, called "Karuizawa-Ginza" today, was the post town. Mt. Asama and houses are already darkened, and the dim moonlight and the red of the bonfire are impressive.
 

20 Kutsukake (Eisen)
Kutsukake, called Naka-karuizawa today, prospered as one of the three Asama post towns on the Kisokaido Highway and also as the stage before heading for Kusatsu in the province of Joshu. The houses visible on the right may be the post town, and the river to the right may be part of the Yugawa River.

21 Oiwake (Eisen)
Oiwake packhorse driver's songs originated here. At the junction of the Kisokaido and Hokkoku Highways, this post town was always busy. At 1,000 meters above sea level, Oiwake was also the highest point of the Kisokaido Highway. Like Mt. Fuji, Mt. Asama is a conical volcano with beautiful slopes spreading at the foot. Onioshidashi, a rugged lava field on the northern side is a famous sight-seeing spot.
 

22 Odai
The stretch of highway leading to Odai was through a desolate bushy field at the foot of Mt. Asama. Today this part is called Nishi-karuizawa. "Hime-no-yado" (Stage for Princesses), was the nickname of Odai because wives of princes and daimyos often took up their lodgings here.
 

23 Iwamurata (Eisen)
Iwamurata was the castle town of the Lord of Naito Bungonomori having a 15,000-koku fief. At this small post town, the Kisokaido intersected with the Saku-Koshu Road. This picture is considered a unique piece among the Kiso Highway Series. The scene is a fight among blind men.
 

24 Shionata
Shionata, on the eastern shore of the Chikuma River, was the only stage in the province of Shinshu where travellers often met with interruptions of ferry service. The river ran broad here, and travellers had to be ferried across it. A beauty spot here was the Fudo Fall with abundant clear water, where worn-out travellers had a moment of relaxation.
 

25 Yawata
The post town of Yawata was only 2 km from Shionata. The distance between the stages was the shortest on the Kisokaido Highway. Besides, Yawata has the smallest number of inns among all the post towns on the Kisokaido. The place of this picture is probably about Hyakuzawa which was the middle point between Yawata and Mochizuki.
 

26 Mochizuki
In the post town of Mochizuki, our attention is drawn to the two-story houses lining the street with latticed facade and projecting upper-story part. To the northeast of the post town was Mimakigahara used as Imperial pastures during the Heian and Kamakura periods (9th through 14th centuries). The scene depicts the ascent of Uryu-zaka Hill Road between Yawata and Mochizuki.
 

27 Ashida
The post town of Ashida was in a mountainous area. The landscape depicted is the Kasadori Pass on the way from Ashida to Nagakubo. The bold composition and deformation employed have something in common with modern paintings. The Kasadori Pass is said to have commanded a magnificent view of Mt. Asama.
 

28 Nagakubo
Past the Kasadori Pass, travellers walked along a gently downhill road to reach the post town of Nagakubo. This was a bustling junction stage with the Wada Pass to the south and the Zenkoji Road branching out form the Kisokaido Highway. In the centre of the picture is the Wada Bridge across the Yoda River.
 

29 Wada
This was one of the hardest parts to pass on the Kisokaido Highway. The forbidding Wada Pass (1,651 m above sea level) is seen under deep snow. Today you can visit an inn with beautiful latticework restored as the Historic Road Museum "Kawachiya" and a honjin inn reconstructed into the "Nakasendo Wada-juku Honjin" museum.
 

30 Shimosuwa
The post town of Shimosuwa prospered as the sole hot spring resort on the Kisokaido and also as the intersection with the Koshu Highway. Nearby were the Grand Shrines of Suwa well-known for the "Onbashira" (Sacred Pillar Erecting) festival. The picture is a detailed scene of customers taking a meal in an inn. We have it on hearsay that the man facing away is Hiroshige himself.

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31 Shiojiri (Eisen)
Lake Suwa is frozen over. It is famous for the phenomenon called "Omiwatari" (God's Crossing) in which the ice breaks in midwinter forming a ridge across the lake. The Shiojiri Pass (1,052 m above sea level) commands a panoramic view of snow-capped Mt. Fuji in the centre and the Yatsugatake mountain range to the left.
 

32 Seba
Tradition has it that Seba, or "Washing Horse", got its name when the retainers of Kiso Yoshinaka (1154-1184) washed his horse in the clear water of the Ohta river. The round moon beyond the willows is casting a pale light on the surface of the river, on which a sampan is moving soundlessly. This is considered one of the best works in the Kiso Highway Series, and it is also one of Hiroshige's masterpieces.
 

33 Motoyama
Motoyama is famous as the birthplace of soba (buckwheat vermicelli noodles). Part of the post town still remains along the street today. Two woodcutters are taking a rest and having a smoke under a huge pine tree stretching across the picture.
 

34 Niikawa
Cross the Sakurazawa Bridge about 3 km from Motoyama, and you will find a monument proclaiming "The Kiso Route: South from Here." Niegawa is the northernmost of the 11 post towns on the Kisokaido Highway through the valley of Kiso. The signboards in front of the house carry the names of the woodcutter, printer and publisher of this ukiyoe series. The number "34" on the rump of the horse is the stage number of Niegawa.
 

35 Narai ( Eisen)
This post town was located 935 m above sea level. There were hundreds of inns for travellers, many of whom decided to put up for a night here before the crossing of the Torii Pass. Even today, there is a stretch (about 1 km) of street preserving the appearance of the post town. "Oroku Comb" written on the signboard was the speciality of this area having originated at Yabuhara.