The Sixty-nine Post Stations of the
(Kisokaidô rokujűku tsugi, 木曾街道六十九次之内)
1852-1853
The
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Title page Number on print: none Publisher:
Minato-ya Kohei Robinson:
S74.1 NOTE: The sake barrel wrapped in straw is
inscribed Edo jiman
Nihon ichi (Pride of Edo, unique in Japan),
which was almost certainly a paid advertisement. I am grateful to Ward Pieters
for locating this image. |
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Station: Nihonbashi (bridge at the origin of the Kisokaidô Road) Number on print: 1 Main scene:
Sumô wrestlers Nuregami Katsunosuke
and Ukiyo Watabei quarrelling on the Nihonbashi watched by Ashikaga Yorikane Insert:
street scene Publisher:
Tsujioka-ya Bunsuke Robinson:
S74.2 |
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Station:
Itabashi (板橋) Number on print: 2 Main scene:
Inudzuka Shino holding on to a tree in the water
while Sabojirô swims towards him and Totarô sits on a boat in the background (a scene from Bakin’s novel Hakkenden) Insert:
river scene Publisher:
Sumiyoshi-ya Masagorô Robinson:
S74.3 |
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Station: Warabi (蕨) Number on print: 3 Main scene:
Inuyama Dôsetsu seated
amid flames with a magic pine branch wrapped in paper in his mouth Insert:
village road Publisher:
Izutsu-ya Shôkichi Robinson:
S74.4 |
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Station: Urawa (浦和) Number on print: 4 Main scene:
Uoya (fishmonger) Danshichi
(魚屋團七) emptying a bucket of water over himself to clean
off mud Insert:
uphill road Publisher:
Sumiyoshi-ya Masagorô Robinson:
S74.5 |
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Station: Ômiya (大宮) Number on print: 5 Main scene:
The captive rebel Abe no Munetô kneeling before
Minister Fujiwara no Mitsuyori Insert:
roadside teahouse Publisher:
Takeda-ya Takezô Robinson:
S74.6 |
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Station: Ageo (上尾) Number on print: 6 Main scene:
The actor Bandô Shuka as
the courtesan Miura no Takao being weighed against oval gold coins, some
stacked and wrapped in paper Insert:
village and rice paddies Publisher:
Hayashi-ya Shôgorô Robinson:
S74.7 |
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Station: Okegawa (桶川) Number on print: 7 Main scene:
Tamaya Shimbei imprisoned
in a huge wooden tub being given a drink by a girl under the direction of Kojorô Insert:
landscape with pine trees Publisher:
Sumiyoshi-ya Masagorô Robinson:
S74.8 |
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Station: Kônosu (鴻巣) Number on print: none Main scene:
Musashi no Kami Moronao in the snow being hustled off to a hiding place
under firewood Insert:
roadside village with distant hills Publisher:
Yawata-ya Sakujirô Robinson:
S74.9 |
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Station: Kumagaya (熊谷) Number on print: 9 Main scene:
Kojirô Nao-ie armored and
mounted at the base of a castle wall on the shore of a lake Insert:
road with bearers carrying a palanquin Publisher:
Yawata-ya Sakujirô Robinson:
S74.10 |
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Station: Fukaya (深谷) Number on print: 10 Main scene:
Yuriwaka Daijin shooting
with his huge bow before two dumfounded spectators Insert:
road with rest house and pine trees Publisher:
Kaga-ya Yasubei Robinson:
S74.11 |
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Station: Honjô (本庄) Number on print: 11 Main scene:
Shirai Gompachi sheathing
his sword with a purse in his mouth in the rain Insert:
roadside village with marsh behind Publisher:
Minato-ya Kohei Robinson:
S74.12 |
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Station: Shimmachi (新町) Number on print: 12 Main scene:
encounter of Gokumon Shôhei
and Kurofune Chűemon on a
bridge Insert:
distant mountain across a lake Publisher:
Ise-ya Kanekichi Robinson:
S74.13 |
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Station: Kuragano (倉加野) Number on print: 13 Main scene:
the bandit Jiraiya with two followers seated by a
fire under a huge pine tree Insert:
hilly road through mountains Publisher:
Sumiyoshi-ya Masagorô Robinson:
S74.14 |
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Station: Takazaki (高崎) Number on print: 14 Main scene:
Konomura Ôinosuke holding
an unrolled painting of a hawk on a pine branch from which the hawk comes to
life and flies off Insert: village
at the foot of a mountain Publisher:
Yawata-ya Sakujirô Robinson:
S74.15 |
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Station: Itahana (板花) Number on print: 15 Main scene:
Onzôshi Ushiwaka Maru discomfiting two tengu at fencing Insert:
trees and a cloud-shrouded mountain Publisher:
Hayashi-ya Shôgorô Robinson:
S74.16 NOTE: Tengu are
forest-dwelling creatures that are either human-like with wings and long
noses or bird-like. |
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This is another state of
the above print. It is a less labor
intensive printing than the above, which almost invariably means a later
edition. In this print, the shading (bokashi) in the
rectangular cartouche in the right upper corner was replaced by solid
pink. Bokashi was achieved by
hand-applying a gradation of ink to the wooden printing block rather than
inking the block uniformly. This
hand-application had to be repeated for each sheet of paper that was
printed. There is also a
simplification of the coloring of the tengu. |
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Station: Annaka (安中) Number on print: 16 Main scene:
Seigen the monk praying to Fudô,
sees a vision of his beloved Sakura-hime Insert:
moonlit village with distant hills Publisher:
Kaga-ya Yasubei Robinson:
S74.17 |
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Station: Matsuida (松井田) Number on print: 17 Main scene:
Matsui Minjirô watching two snakes in a river with Yama-uba seated on a rock Insert:
trees, rice paddies and distant mountains Publisher:
Tsujioka-ya Bunsuke Robinson:
S74.18 |
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Station:
Sakamoto (坂本) Number on print: 18 Main scene:
samurai and child on a road near a teahouse
in Gojôzaka Insert:
man leading a horse along a mountain road Publisher:
Minato-ya Kohei Robinson:
S74.19 |
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Station: Karuizawa (軽井澤) Number on print: 19 Main scene:
Kamada Matahachi (鎌田叉八) at the base of a huge red temple-pillar Insert: Road
amid hills with band of mist Publisher:
Takeda-ya Takezô Robinson:
S74.20 |
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Station: Kutsukake Number on print: 20 Main scene:
The Han Dynasty hero Chôryô (Chang Liang) fitting a shoe he retrieved from the river on Kôsekikô Insert: mountain
with band of mist and rooftops in the foreground Publisher:
Ise-ya Kanekichi Robinson:
S74.21 |
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Station: Oiwake Number on print: 21 Main scene:
The deformed O-Iwa squeezing blood from a hank of
her hair watched by her husband Ieyoshi Insert: travelers
on a road through rice paddies under a full moon Publisher:
Takeda-ya Takezô Robinson:
S74.22 NOTE: O-Iwa was married to
a man named Iemon.
A wealthy lady fell in love with Iemon, and
he fell in love with her money. Iemon had his servant poison O-Iwa. She became weak, lost her hair and her face
became deformed. She was then treated
cruelly by the people around her, and she died holding a grudge against them. After her death many strange things
happened, and all of the people who had mistreated her died. |
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Station: Odai (小田井) Number on print: 22 Main scene:
Teranishi Kanshin, his kimono patterned with skeletons,
standing by a tied up bearer and three barrels of sake Insert: a
road among hills and pine trees at sunset Publisher:
Ise-ya Kanekichi Robinson:
S74.23 |
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Station: Iwamurata (岩村田) Number on print: 23 Main scene:
The strong woman Ôiko damming a river with a
boulder Insert:
rice paddies and distant mountains with a band of mist Publisher:
Kaga-ya Yasubei Robinson:
S74.24 |
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Station: Shionada Number on print: 24 Main scene:
Torii Matasuke wringing out his loincloth and
holding a severed head in his teeth Insert:
evening landscape with mountains, trees and fields Publisher:
Tsujioka-ya Bunsuke Robinson:
S74.25 |
“Robinson” refers to listing in Kuniyoshi: The Warrior-Prints by Basil William Robinson (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 1982) and its privately published supplement.
