Item from the Mokuhankan Flea Market

Okazaki - from the 53 Stations of the Tokaido

Size: 27.0cm by 44.0cm (10.63 in by 17.32 in) | Enlargement | Shipping Code: [L] ?

Designer: Ando Hiroshige

Era: Mid Showa | Currency: $ / £ / €

Price: ¥ 7,000$ 54.00£ 42.25€ 49.50 [Item has been sold]

Description: This is a print from what is perhaps the single most famous series of Japanese woodblock prints ever produced - "The 53 Stations of the Tokaido", designed by Hiroshige in the 1830s.

The print you see here is a reproduction version produced in the post-war period by one of the numerous publishing houses working at that time (Adachi, Takamizawa, Yuyudo, Bijutsu-sha, Yamada Shoin, Kyoto Hanga-in, etc.) Here at Mokuhankan we have a wide selection of such prints, far too many to scan and prepare for the website one by one.

We don't always have every print in this series in stock, but try to keep as many of them available as possible. The one you see in this photo is on hand, but feel free to contact us about other designs in this series that you don't see on the site ...

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Image information: Seen in the middle of the image is Yahagi Bridge which was the longest bridge on the Tokaido back then. In the image, the Daimyo procession continues from one end to the other. Beyond the bridge, Okazaki Castle and many houses are in sight.

Because Okazaki was the birthplace of Ieyasu - the first Tokugawa Shogun - it became one of the largest towns of the time.

In the Edo era, bridge construction was strictly controlled by the government, in order to protect Edo from attack, and travelers were compelled to cross rivers by boat. But the Yahagi Bridge was an exception, commissioned and built by the shogun.

The river and the distant mountain are depicted with beautiful blues using the bokashi gradation technique. For the sky, a vivid vermilion was used with ichi-monji bokashi (a long thin gradation technique.) This vermilion and the Prussian blue add a lively feeling and make this image very attractive.

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There are a few small chiri (mulberry bark scraps) in the upper area of this print.

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