The Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaidō (Kisokaidō rokujūkyū-tsugi)
Suhara
須原宿 · Suhara
Utagawa Hiroshige · c. 1838
What it is
Travellers run for shelter at Suhara on the Kisokaidō as a sudden rain sweeps across the hills.
Why it matters
The post stations of the Central Mountain Road offered stables, food and lodging, and Hiroshige shows the moment those roofs mattered most.
What to notice
The rain falls in long grey lines, and the hills behind fade into it.
Everyone on the road knows the moment the rain arrives.
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 · JP2868
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)Moonlit Night at MiyanokoshiUtagawa 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.