Utagawa Kuniyoshi: The Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaido

by Sarah E. Thompson

Originally published in 1852 and 1853, The Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaidō is a richly entertaining series of woodblock prints created by master artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi (Japanese, 1797-1861). The seventy-two finely executed prints include one for each resting point along the well-traveled Kisokaidō (Kiso Road)--a historic route stretching from Edo (modern Tokyo) to Kyoto--plus views of the two endpoint cities and an additional series title page. Kuniyoshi never traveled the mountainous Kisokaidō, but he drew from historic events, kabuki plays, popular legends, and classical literature to illustrate his vision of the towns and stations along the road. This stunning collection of colorful ukiyo-e prints exhibits Kuniyoshi's artistic mastery and clever sense of humor. Each work incorporates three the main picture, an inset landscape depicting the particular station, and a title block. Using parody and pun (both for humor and to avoid government censorship), Kuniyoshi associated each point on the route with one of the most beloved stories of his day--from a reimagined Odyssey to the Japanese fairy tale of Urashima to popular kabuki scenes with courtesans and other "floating world" characters. He made that story the subject of the main picture and put clues to its identity in the title block. Kuniyoshi delighted in these hidden messages and used every inch of the paper to tell his story. Utagawa The Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaidō celebrates the beauty, charm, and ingenuity of Kuniyoshi's work with more than seventy-five full-color illustrations, including reproductions of all the prints in the treasured series. Sarah E. Thompson provides an introductory essay on the history of ukiyo-e and a description of each print.

Genres: Nonfiction, Art, History, Japan

164 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2009

About the author

Sarah E. Thompson Assistant Curator for Japanese Prints in Art of Asia, Oceania, and Africa Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Reviews

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Utagawa Kuniyoshi was a Japanese artist who created woodblock prints during the 1800s. Among his works were these ukiyo-e prints which were placed along the Kiso Road route between Edo (now known as Tokyo) and Kyoto. Each print tells stories of folk lore, classical literature, Kabuki plays and certain historical events in Japan.

This is a beautifully illustrated book with reproduction of the prints and an explanation of each print by the author of the book.

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book, composed of full page reproductions of the 72 prints that make up this Kisokaido, with a facing page of remarkably complete descriptions of the illustration and it's origins based on historical/fictional passages from Japanese history, NO plays, and kabuki theater productions. The japanese of the period were great consumers of illustrated prints illustrating the famous routes of Japan. In his vision of the Kisokaido, the road between Edo, later Tokyo, seat of power of the Shogunate, and Kyoto, site of the Imperial retirement, Utagawa Kuniyoshi chose to illustrate each resting point with a scene from Japanese cultural history instead of, for instance, the approach taken by Hiroshima Eisen who, in his also excellent version, chose to illustrate each site, using either an approach to it, or a famous view from it to capture each one in succession. Kuniyoshi's were originally published in 1852-53. The color reproductions are excellent, prepared and approved as they were by Dr. Thompson, who is the Assistant Curator of Japanese prints at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and is supervising the digitization of the 50,000 Japanese prints in the MFA collection.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

great layout, insightful text, beautiful pictures. thompson, you're excellent!