The Sixty-nine Stations of the Kiso Kaidō

The title page for the series of ukiyo-e prints.

The Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaidō (木曾街道六十九次, Kisokaidō Rokujūkyū-tsugi) or Sixty-nine Stations of the Kiso Road, is a series of ukiyo-e works created by Utagawa Hiroshige and Keisai Eisen. There are 71 total prints in the series (one for each of the 69 post stations and Nihonbashi; Nakatsugawa-juku has two prints).

The common name for the Kisokaidō is "Nakasendō" so the series is sometimes referred to as the Sixty-nine Stations of the Nakasendō. It is a follow-up to Hiroshige's The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō and he produced 47 of the prints, with Eisen being responsible for the rest.[1]

The series was published by Iseya Rihei (Kinjudō) from c. 1834-1842.[2]

The Nakasendō

The Nakasendō was one of the Five Routes constructed under Tokugawa Ieyasu, a series of roads linking the historical capital of Edo with the rest of Japan. The Nakasendō connected Edo with the then-capital of Kyoto. It was an alternate route to the Tōkaidō and travelled through the central part of Honshū, thus giving rise to its name, which means "Central Mountain Road". Along this road, there were sixty-nine different post stations, which provided stables, food, and lodging for travelers.

Prints by Eisen

Ukiyo-e print of Gōdo-juku, by Eisen

Eisen produced the first 11 prints of the series, from Nihonbashi to Honjō-shuku, stretching from Tokyo to Saitama Prefecture. His prints from Gunma Prefecture include Kuragano-shuku, Itahana-shuku and Sakamoto-shuku. Representing Nagano Prefecture, he made prints of Kutsukake-shuku, Oiwake-shuku, Iwamurada-shuku, Shiojiri-shuku, Narai-juku, Yabuhara-juku, Nojiri-juku and Magome-juku. His last two prints, Unuma-juku and Gōdo-juku represent Gifu Prefecture. After that, Hiroshige took over production of the series.

Prints by Hiroshige

Kanō-juku
ArtistHiroshige

Hiroshige's prints start in Gunma Prefecture and include Shinmachi-shuku, Takasaki-shuku, Annaka-shuku and Matsuida-shuku. His prints that reflect Nagano Prefecture] are Karuisawa-shuku, Otai-shuku, from Shionada-juku to Shimosuwa-shuku, from Seba-juku to Niekawa-juku, from Miyanokoshi-juku to Suhara-juku, Midono-juku and Tsumago-juku. His prints from Gifu Prefecture include Ochiai-juku to Ōta-juku, Kanō-juku, and from Mieji-juku to Imasu-juku. His last ten prints, from Kashiwabara-juku to Ōtsu-juku are all in Shiga Prefecture.

Tabulation of series

The series consists of the sixty-nine stations of the Kisokaidō, plus a board for the starting point, the Nihonbashi bridge ("bridge of Japan") in Edo, and an additional print for the Nakatsugawa-juku station; a total of 71 prints, to which must be added the title page.

The series was published by publisher Takenouchi-Hōeidō, for the first part, and by publisher Kinjūdō for the second. Subsequent reissues were made by Kinjūdō.

Woodcut print English name Author Japanese name Transliteration
1
Nihonbashi Eisen 日本橋 Nihonbashi
2
Itabashi Eisen 板橋宿 Itabashi
3
Warabi Eisen 蕨宿 Warabi
4
Urawa Eisen 浦和宿 Urawa
5
Omiya Eisen 大宮宿 Omiya
6
Ageo Eisen 上尾宿 Ageo
7
Okegawa Eisen 桶川宿 Okegawa
8
Konosu Eisen 鴻巣宿 Konosu
9
Kumagaya Eisen 熊谷宿 Kumagai
10
Fukaya Eisen 深谷宿 Fukaya
11
Honjo Eisen 本庄宿 Honjo
12
Shinmachi Hiroshige 新町宿 Shinmachi
13
Kuragano Eisen 倉賀野宿 Kuragano
14
Takasaki Hiroshige 高崎宿 Takasaki
15
Itabana Eisen 板鼻宿 Itahana
16
Annaka Hiroshige 安中宿 Annaka
17
Matsuida Hiroshige 松井田宿 Matsuida
18
Sakamoto Eisen 坂本宿 Sakamoto
19
Karuizawa Hiroshige 軽井沢宿 Karuisawa
20
Kutsukake Eisen 沓掛宿 Kutsukake
21
Oiwake Eisen 追分宿 Oiwake
22
Odai Hiroshige 小田井宿 Otai
23
Iwamurata Eisen 岩村田宿 Iwamurada
24
Shionata Hiroshige 塩名田宿 Shionada
25
Yawata Hiroshige 八幡宿 Yawata
26
Mochizuki Hiroshige 望月宿 Mochizuki
27
Ashida Hiroshige 芦田宿 Ashida
28
Nagakubo Hiroshige 長久保宿 Nagakubo
29
Wada Hiroshige 和田宿 Wada
30
Shimosuwa Hiroshige 下諏訪宿 Shimosuwa
31
Shiojiri Eisen 塩尻宿 Shiojiri
32
Seba Hiroshige 洗馬宿 Seba
33
Motoyama Hiroshige 本山宿 Motoyama
34
Niikawa Hiroshige 贄川宿 Niekawa
35
Narai Eisen 奈良井宿 Narai
36
Yabuhara Eisen 藪原宿 Yabuhara
37
Miyanokoshi Hiroshige 宮ノ越宿 Miyanokoshi
38
Fukushima Hiroshige 福島宿 Fukushima
39
Agematsu Hiroshige 上松宿 Agematsu
40
Suhara Hiroshige 須原宿 Suhara
41
Nojiri Eisen 野尻宿 Nojiri
42
Mitono Hiroshige 三留野宿 Midono
43
Tsumagome Hiroshige 妻籠宿 Tsumago
44
Magome Eisen 馬籠宿 Magome
45
Ochiai Hiroshige 落合宿 Ochiai
46
Nakatsugawa Hiroshige 中津川宿 Nakatsugawa I
47
Nakatsugawa Hiroshige 中津川宿 Nakatsugawa II
48
Oi Hiroshige 大井宿 Ōi
49
Okute Hiroshige 大湫宿 Ōkute
50
Hosokute Hiroshige 細久手宿 Hosokute
51
Mitake Hiroshige 御嶽宿 Mitake
52
Fushimi Hiroshige 伏見宿 Fushimi
53
Ota Hiroshige 太田宿 Ōta
54
Unuma Eisen 鵜沼宿 Unuma
55
Kano Hiroshige 加納宿 Kanō
56
Kodo Eisen 河渡宿 Gōdo
57
Miyeji Hiroshige 美江寺宿 Mieji
58
Akasaka Hiroshige 赤坂宿 Akasaka
59
Tarui Hiroshige 垂井宿 Tarui
60
Sekigahara Hiroshige 関ヶ原宿 Sekigahara
61
Imasu Hiroshige 今須宿 Imasu
62
Kashiwabara Hiroshige 柏原宿 Kashiwabara
63
Samegai Hiroshige 醒井宿 Samegai
64
Banba Hiroshige 番場宿 Banba
65
Toriimoto Hiroshige 鳥居本宿 Toriimoto
66
Takamiya Hiroshige 高宮宿 Takamiya
67
Echigawa Hiroshige 愛知川宿 Echigawa
68
Musa Hiroshige 武佐宿 Musa
69
Moriyama Hiroshige 守山宿 Moriyama
70
Kusatsu Hiroshige 草津宿 Kusatsu
71
Otsu Hiroshige 大津宿 Ōtsu
72
Title page

See also

References

Notes
  1. ^ Hiroshige - Kisokaido. www.hiroshige.org.uk. Accessed November 1, 2017.
  2. ^ Forrer
  • Matthi Forrer, Hiroshige. Prestel. 2011 (trans. Peter Mason) ISBN 9783791345406
  • Basil Stewart, A Guide to Japanese Prints and Their Subject Matter. Dover Books on Oriental Art, 1979 (1st ed. 1922), pp. 98–107.
  • Gordon Friese, Keisai Eisen - Utagawa Hiroshige. Die 69 Stationen des Kisokaido: Eine vollständige Serie japanischer Farbholzschnitte und ihre Druckvarianten. Unna, 2008, ISBN 978-3-9809261-3-3
  • Sebastian Izzard, Hiroshige: Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaido.George Braziller, 2009. ISBN 978-0-8076-1593-5