No. 12: Shinmachi, from the series "Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaido (Kisokaido rokujukyu tsugi no uchi)"

Art Historical Context

Utagawa Hiroshige *No. 12: Shinmachi, from the "Sixty-nine Stations the Kisokaido"*c. 1835/38) captures the essence of travel along one of Japan's historic highways during the Edo period. This color woodblock print is part of Hiroshige's renowned series, which depicts the 69 post stations (and additional stops) on the Kisokaido route—a rugged inland path connecting Edo (modern Tokyo) to Kyoto, paralleling the more famous coastal Tokaido road. Created amid Japan's isolationist sakoku policy, these prints offered urban viewers vicarious journeys through stunning landscapes, evoking wanderlust and national pride. Hiroshige, a master of the ukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating world") school, excelled in atmospheric landscapes, using subtle gradations of color and dynamic compositions to convey mood and weather. Printed in the large oban format (24.3 × 36.5 cm), this Nishiki-e (brocade picture) employed intricate woodblock techniques: multiple carved blocks inked in vibrant hues like Prussian blue and vermilion, layered with precise registration for depth and realism. Affordable yet exquisite, such prints democratized art, influencing later Impressionists like Monet and Van Gogh. Shinmachi station, nestled in the series' progression, highlights Hiroshige's eye for everyday poetry amid mountains and rivers, preserving a vanishing era of samurai travel and postal relays for posterity. A gem in the Art Institute of Chicago's Arts of Asia collection, it invites us to pause and appreciate Japan's poetic bond with nature.

About the Artist

Utagawa Hiroshige · 1826–1869

Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858), born Andō Tokutarō, was the last great master of Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock printmaking and one of the most influential landscape artists in history. Born in Edo (modern Tokyo) into a low-ranking samurai family serving as fire wardens, Hiroshige transformed landscape printmaking into a poetic meditation on nature, weather, and everyday life. His revolutionary approac...