The Sixty-nine Post Stations of the
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Station:
Mitake Number on print: 50 Main scene:
Kagekiyo carrying a naginata (pole
arm) on the colossal Buddha of Tôdaiji where he was arrested Insert: huts
by a river and mountains in mist Publisher:
Sumiyoshi-ya Masagorô Robinson:
S74.51 |
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Station:
Fushimi Number on print: 51 Main scene:
Tokiwa-gozen sheltering her three children Insert:
road past a teahouse, rice paddies and distant hills Publisher:
Hayashi-ya Shôgorô Robinson:
S74.52 |
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Station:
Ôta Number on print: 52 Main scene:
Amagawa-ya Gihei seizing Yabui Ryôchiku by the collar of his coat in a scene
from the kabuki play ‘Kanadehon
chûshingura’ Insert: tree-lined
road among hills Publisher:
Kobayashi-ya Matsugorô Robinson:
S74.53 |
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Station:
Unuma Number on print: 53 Main scene:
Yoyemon killing his deformed wife with a sickle as her spirit departs the
body to return as an avenging ghost Insert:
rocky landscape with waterfall and distant mountain Publisher:
Kadzusa-ya Iwazô Robinson:
S74.54 |
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Station:
Kanô Number on print: 54 Main scene:
Hôtarô & his nurse O-Tsuji in a wind by a lotuses plantation Insert: road
ascending from a rest house between banks and pine trees Publisher:
Yawata-ya Sakujirô Robinson:
S74.55 |
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Station:
Gôdo Number on print: 55 Main scene:
Girl watching blind men crossing a river Insert:
pine trees on hillock and distant mountain Publisher:
Kadzusa-ya Iwazô Robinson:
S74.56 |
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Station:
Miyeji Number on print: 56 Main scene:
three girls drinking sake around a
fire while viewing autumn leaves Insert:
road ascending from a rest house between banks and pine trees Publisher:
Kaga-ya Yasubei Robinson:
S74.57 |
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Station:
Akasaka Number on print: 57 Main scene:
Empress Kômyô-kôgô, attended by a maid, washing Buddha in the form of a
diseased beggar Insert: road
through rice paddies with blooming cherry trees and distant mountain Publisher:
Ise-ya Kanekichi Robinson:
S74.58 |
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Station:
Tarui Number on print: 58 Main scene:
Sarunosuke being tied to a well by three other boys Insert:
wooded hillside, rooftops and distant mountain Publisher:
Yawata-ya Sakujirô Robinson:
S74.59 |
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Station:
Sekigahara Number on print: 59 Main scene:
sumô wrestlers Hanaregoma Chôkichi
and Nuregami Chôgorô in combat Insert:
travelers crossing a mountain Publisher:
Idzutsu-ya Shôkichi Robinson:
S74.60 |
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Station:
Imasu Number on print: 60 Main scene:
the Soga brothers, with drawn swords, about to enter tent of Kudô Suketsune,
their father’s murderer Insert:
travelers with a packhorse approaching a village Publisher:
Tsujioka-ya Bunsuke Robinson:
S74.61 |
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Station:
Kashiwabara Number on print: 61 Main scene:
The geisha Sankatsu of the Kasa-ya
with a servant carrying her effects, including a pair of brocade-wrapped
swords Insert:
travelers on a road with pine trees and a distant mountain Publisher:
Yawata-ya Sakujirô Robinson:
S74.62 |
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Station:
Samegai Number on print: 62 Main scene:
Kanai Tanigorô thrusts a monstrous lizard over a precipice with a bamboo
spear saving a damsel in distress who cowers behind him Insert:
distant mountain in the mist Publisher:
Tsujioka-ya Bunsuke Robinson:
S74.63 |
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Station:
Bamba Number on print: 63 Main scene:
The painter domori (stammerer) Matabei squatting outside his house with his
wife and child Insert:
wide road through a hilly landscape Publisher:
Ise-ya Kanekichi Robinson:
S74.64 |
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Station:
Toriimoto Number on print: 64 Main scene:
Taira no Tadamori catching the oil thief who had been mistaken for a
fire-breathing monster Insert:
travelers on a flat road by a single tree Publisher:
Takada-ya Takezô Robinson:
S74.65 |
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Station:
Takamiya Number on print: 65 Main scene:
Kamiya Iyemon, villain of the kabuki
play ‘Yotsuya kwaidan’, fishing Insert:
rice paddies and distant hills with a large pine tree in the foreground Publisher:
Kobayashi-ya Matsugorô Robinson:
S74.66 |
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Station:
Yechikawa Number on print: 66 Main scene:
Sagi-no-ike Heikurô attended by his squire, washing his axe in a river with
three severed heads beside him Insert:
farmhouse and rice paddies with a mountain behind Publisher:
Kadzusa-ya Iwazô Robinson:
S74.67 |
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Station:
Musa Number on print: 48 (it should be 67) Main scene:
The swordsman Miyamoto Musashi, suspended over a chasm in a traveling cradle,
strikes at a monstrous bat Insert:
travelers in open country approaching a village Publisher:
Sumiyoshi-ya Masagorô Robinson:
S74.68 NOTE: Two
different states of this print are illustrated. The lower print with a black sky is the
less labor intensive printing, which almost invariably means a later
edition. In the lower print the wooden
block for the distant hill was not used, and the shading (bokashi) in the cartouche second from
the right upper corner was omitted. 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. |
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Station: Kusatsu Number on print: 67 (it should be 68) Main scene:
actor Ichikawa Danjûrô VIII in the role of Kwanja Yoshitaka looking down at a
bearer tied to a standing horse Insert:
travelers approaching a stone embankment Publisher:
Minato-ya Kohei Robinson: S74.69 |
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Station:
Moriyama Number on print: 68 (it should be 69) Main scene:
Daruma eating an enormous quantity of spaghetti Insert:
travelers on a flat tree-lined road Publisher:
Takada-ya Takezô Robinson:
S74.70 NOTE:
Bodhidharma, the Indian monk who founded the Zen sect of Buddhism, is known
as Daruma in |
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Station:
Ôtsu Number on print: 70 Main scene:
Koman swimming near Munemori’s barge with the white Minamoto banner in her
mouth Insert: a
waterfall in the mountains Publisher:
Minato-ya Kohei Robinson:
S74.71 |
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Station: Number on print: taibi (the end) Main scene:
The Nuye, which was a beast with
the head of a monkey, the claws of a tiger, the back of a badger and a snake
for a tail. It spent its nights on the
roof of the Emperor’s palace in Kyoto, causing him grave illness until it was
slain. Insert: a
wooded mountain Publisher:
Minato-ya Kohei Robinson:
S74.72 |
‘Robinson’ refers to listing in Kuniyoshi: The Warrior-Prints by Basil William Robinson (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 1982) and its unpublished supplement.
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