Edo prints
| Design: | Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) | |||||
| Title: | The Mie river near Yokkaichi | |||||
| Series title: | The fifty-three stations of the Tokaidō road | |||||
| Size: | 22.3 x 34.9 cm (ōban) | |||||
| Posthumous printing from newly cut woodblocks | ||||||
| Photography: | Jacques Commandeur |
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Originally published by Takenouchi Magohachi ca. 1831-1834. This reproduction was published by Ōedo Mokuhansha in Tokyo in the early 1950s.
Kiwame (“approved”) censorship seal in lower left margin.
Artist’s signature in right print area:
| Character | Reading | Meaning | Translation |
| 広 | hiro | broad | |
| 重 | shige | heavy | Picture by |
| 画 | ga | picture | Hiroshige |
Followed by red Hōeidō (保永堂) publisher seal, indicating that this print belongs to Hiroshige’s first - and in my opinion best - woodblock print series dedicated to the 53 stations of the Tōkaidō road.
Series title in top left print area:
| Character | Reading | Meaning | Translation |
| 東 | tō | east | |
| 海 | kai | street | |
| 道 | dō | way | |
| 五 | go | five | |
| 十 | jū | ten | |
| 三 | san | three | |
| 次 | tsugi | next | |
| 之 | no | ’s | The fifty-three stations |
| 内 | uchi | inside | of the Tōkaidō road |
Followed by the name of the station:
| Character | Reading | Meaning | Translation |
| 四 | yon | four | |
| 日 | ka | day | |
| 市 | ichi | market | Yokkaichi |
And the print title in a gourd-shaped red seal:
| Character | Reading | Meaning | Translation |
| 三 | mi | three | |
| 重 | e | -fold | |
| 川 | kawa | river | The Mie river |
Name of the publisher in black rectangle in right margin:
| Character | Reading | Meaning | Translation |
| 大 | ō | big | |
| 江 | e | bay | |
| 戸 | to | door | |
| 木 | moku | wood | |
| 版 | han | block | Ōedo |
| 社 | sha | company | Mokuhansha |
Names of the carver and printer in right margin:
| Character | Reading | Meaning | Translation |
| 彫 | hori | carver | |
| 師 | shi | master | Carver: |
| 前 | mae | in front of | |
| 田 | ta | rice field | Maeda |
| 謙 | ken | humility | |
| 太 | ta | fat | |
| 郎 | rō | counter for sons | Kentarō |
| 摺 | suri | printer | |
| 師 | shi | master | Printer: |
| 伊 | i | that one | |
| 藤 | tō | wisteria | Itō |
| 智 | tomo | wisdom | |
| 郎 | rō | son | Tomorō |
References
- Shiraishi, Tsutomu (1988). Hiroshige Tōkaidō gojūsantsugi. Keio gijuku Takahashi Seiichirō ukiyo-e korekushon. Tokyo: Shogakukan.
- Uhlenbeck, Chris, and Jansen, Marije (2008). Hiroshige, Shaping the Image of Japan. Leiden: Hotei Publishing.
Provenance: Fuji Arts