Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō (Hōeidō edition)
Mishima: Morning Mist
三島 朝霧 · Mishima, asagiri
Utagawa Hiroshige · c. 1833–34
What it is
Travelers leave Mishima before the world is fully awake: a rider hunched on horseback and a palanquin crew move through gray dawn fog, the shrine torii and the townsfolk behind them dissolving into silhouette.
Why it matters
The receding figures are printed in flat tones of gray with no keyblock outline at all — one of the most admired atmospheric effects ever achieved in the medium, fog made from ink and restraint.
What to notice
Only the foreground travelers are drawn in full line and color; everything behind them exists in two shades of gray, and the farthest figures are barely a breath on the paper.
The day begins before the world is solid.
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 · JP40
- bokashi
Impression note. The mist effect depends entirely on the printer’s handling of the two flat gray tones behind the foreground; impressions differ in how softly the shrine torii and the receding figures dissolve. 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)Numazu: TwilightUtagawa Hiroshige · c. 1833–34The road at your moment — Painted Earth’s ukiyo-e style pack.