The Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaidō (Kisokaidō rokujūkyū-tsugi)
Moonlit Night at Miyanokoshi
宮ノ越宿 · Miyanokoshi
Utagawa Hiroshige · c. 1838
What it is
Under a full moon at Miyanokoshi on the Kisokaidō, a family crosses a small bridge while trees stand as soft silhouettes in the mist.
Why it matters
The Kisokaidō, also called the Nakasendō or Central Mountain Road, ran through the mountains between Edo and Kyoto, and Hiroshige gives this station to the night.
What to notice
The trees are printed without outlines, in graded grey, so they seem to dissolve into the mist.
The road at night belongs to the people going home.
The record
- Artist
- Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川広重 (1797–1858)
- Series
- The Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaidō (Kisokaidō rokujūkyū-tsugi)
- Date
- c. 1838
- Publisher
- Iseya Rihei (Kinjudō)
- Medium
- woodblock print; ink and color on paper
- Source
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art · JP2871
Impression note. The series was begun by Keisai Eisen and continued by Hiroshige, who designed forty-seven of its seventy-one sheets; Iseya Rihei published it between about 1834 and 1842. 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
The Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaidō (Kisokaidō rokujūkyū-tsugi)SuharaUtagawa Hiroshige · c. 1838
Utagawa HiroshigeSparrows and Camellia in SnowUtagawa Hiroshige · c. 1830s
Utagawa HiroshigeBullfinch and Weeping CherryUtagawa Hiroshige · c. 1834
Utagawa HiroshigeKingfisher and IrisesUtagawa Hiroshige · c. 1830sThe road at your moment — Painted Earth’s ukiyo-e style pack.