Modern Style Set of the Provinces in Edo Brocade, Part I

(Kôto nishiki imayô kuni-dzukushi)

Publisher: Yamaguchi-ya Tôbei

1852

This series is listed as number 171 in Kuniyoshi by Basil William Robinson (Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1961). The prints in this series are each about 14 by 10 inches (36 by 25 centimeters), a size known as ôban.

	Number: 1 Upper panel: Yamashiro Province; Poet Ono no Komachi Lower panel: Yamato Province; actor Ichikawa Danjûrô VIII as Koganosuke
	This is another version 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 delicate shading (bokashi) in the background of the upper picture and in the title cartouche was omitted. The bokashi in the river was simplified and is less naturalistic. 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.
	Number: 2 Upper panel: Kawachi Province; Kusunoki Masashige was a 14th century samurai who fought for Emperor Go-Daigo in his attempt to wrest rulership of Japan away from the Kamakura Shogunate, then under the leadership of the Hojo clan Lower panel: Izumi Province; actor Bandô Shûka I as Kuzunoha in the kabuki play ‘Ashiya dauman ochi kagami’ .
	Number: 3 Upper panel: Settsu Province Lower panel: Iga Province, actor Ichikawa Hirogorô
	Number: 4 Upper panel: Ise Province; the ‘marriage rocks’ Lower panel: Shima Province; actor Arashi Rikan III
	Number: 5 Upper panel: Owari Province; a child of great strength Lower panel: Mikawa Province; actor Iwai Kumesaburô III as Ushiwakamaru
	Number: 6 Upper panel: Tôtômi Province Lower panel: Suruga Province; actor Sawamura Chiyojûrô V
	Number: 7 Upper panel: Kai Province; Takeda Shingen hiding in reeds at Kawanakajima Lower panel: Izu Province; actor Onoe Baikô (Onoe Kikugorô IV) as Mishima Osen in the kabuki play ‘Azuma kudari gojusan tsugi’
	Number: 8 Upper panel: Sagami Province Lower panel: Musashi Province; actor Onoe Kikugorô III
	Number: 9 Upper panel: Awa Province Lower panel: Kazusa Province; actor Ichikawa Ebizô V
	Number: 10 Upper panel: Shimôsa Province Lower panel: Hitachi Province; actor Ichikawa Kikujirô II
	Number: 11 Upper panel: Ômi Province Lower panel: Mino Province; actor Iwai Hanshiro VI
	Number: 12 Upper panel: Hida Province Lower panel: Shinano Province; actor Iwai Hanshiro VII
	Number: 13 Upper panel: Kôzuke Province; Yamato-Takeru-no-Mikoto Lower panel: Shimotsuke Province; actor Bandô Shûka I as courtisan Yatsuhashi in the kabuki play ‘Yukari no hana iro mo Yoshiwara’
	Number: 14 Upper panel: Mutsu Province Lower panel: Dewa Province; actor Nakamura Kanemon IV as Satô Shirô Tadanobu in the kabuki play ‘Yoshitsune Senbon zakura’
	Number: 15 Upper panel: Wakasa Province; scene from the first act of the kabuki play ‘Kanadehon Chûshingura’ with Lady Kawayo watching Moronao ascend the steps of the Hachiman Shrine Lower panel: Echizen Province; actor Iwai Kumesaburô III in female role and actor Ichikawa Danjûrô VIII in male role
	Number: 16 Upper panel: Kaga Province; woman with a wooden bucket at a well Lower panel: Noto Province; actor Matsumoto Kôshirô V in kumadori make-up
	Number: 17 Upper panel: Etchû Province; priest Ikkyu and courtesan Jigoku Lower panel: Echigo Province; actor Ichikawa Danjûrô VIII as Jiraiya, a Robin Hood-like bandit who appeared in a series of plays
	Number: 18 Upper panel: Sado Province; Benkei and Ushiwaka Lower panel: Tamba Province; actor Ichikawa Danjûrô VIII as Date no Yosaku in the kabuki play ‘Koinyobo somewake tazuna’

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