Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō (Hōeidō edition)
Kuwana: Seven-Ri Ferry at the Port
桑名 · Kuwana
Utagawa Hiroshige · c. 1833–34
What it is
Two large sailing boats come in toward Kuwana, the forty-second station, with the castle walls low on the shore behind.
Why it matters
At Kuwana the road became a crossing by sea, the Seven-Ri Ferry named in the title, and Hiroshige gives the station to the boats.
What to notice
The great sails dominate the sheet, and the castle on the shore is small and low behind them.
On this stretch of the highway, travellers went by sail.
The record
- Artist
- Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川広重 (1797–1858)
- Series
- Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō (Hōeidō edition)
- Date
- c. 1833–34
- Publisher
- Hōeidō (Takenouchi Magohachi)
- Medium
- woodblock print; ink and color on paper
- Source
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art · JP1491
Impression note. Hiroshige made the series after his first trip along the Tōkaidō in 1832, and it became the best-selling set of ukiyo-e prints, so impressions vary widely in strength and colour. This is the largest clean open impression of the design the Met holds. Impression variance is real — printings differ in wiping and fading — and choosing the finest openly held impression is the curatorial act.
Public domain; faithfully reproduced.
Bring it home
Printed to order on EMA matte art paper, 200gsm.
From the same series
Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō (Hōeidō edition)Nihonbashi: Morning SceneUtagawa Hiroshige · c. 1833–34
Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō (Hōeidō edition)Shinagawa: SunriseUtagawa Hiroshige · c. 1833–34
Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō (Hōeidō edition)Hakone: The LakeUtagawa Hiroshige · c. 1833–34
Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō (Hōeidō edition)Mishima: Morning MistUtagawa Hiroshige · c. 1833–34The road at your moment — Painted Earth’s ukiyo-e style pack.