Poetic Travel
1st month, 1883
Medium
Color woodblock print; surimono
Dimensions
58 × 43.7 cm (22 7/8 × 17 1/4 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
43733
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Shibata Zeshin depicts a section of a sugoroku board game featuring the Tokaido highway. The game appeared early in Japanese history, and, by the early modern period, it had become widely popular. It was also traditionally played at New Year’s, making it a fitting subject for this print, which is dated from January. The Tokaido sugoroku pitted players against each other as they traveled along the highway stations on a large woodblock-printed board. Zeshin inscribed the players’ markers with the...
About the Artist
Shibata Zeshin · 1807–1891
Japanese, 1807–1891