No. 45 c. 1835 - 1838

Utagawa Hiroshige produced this woodblock print around the 1830s, part of his series depicting the Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō, a vital road linking Edo, modern Tokyo, with Kyoto. This image creates meaning through visual codes and cultural references. In nineteenth-century Japan, landscape prints catered to a burgeoning merchant class with disposable income and a desire for travel, reflecting a growing interest in regional identity and the picturesque. Hiroshige's composition emphasizes the arduous journey undertaken by travelers along this route. The diagonal lines draw the eye to the village perched atop a steep incline, connected by a narrow path filled with laborers. By the 1830s, Japan’s economy was changing, and people were on the move. The Tōkaidō Road was not just a route but also a site of exchange and cultural mixing. Analyzing works such as this requires us to understand the complex interplay between artistic production, social change, and institutional forces.