Mountain River on the Kiso Road Possibly 1857 - 1858

Utagawa Hiroshige made this woodblock print, *Mountain River on the Kiso Road*, in nineteenth-century Japan. It is evocative of the artistic, economic and social conditions of Japan’s Edo period. Hiroshige's work captured the popular imagination as more Japanese citizens were permitted to travel, following a period of relative isolation. Woodblock prints thus became a means for circulating views of Japanese landscapes and served as a tourist souvenir industry. The Kiso Road was a historic trade route through the Japanese alps, and Hiroshige’s strategic depiction of it played into nationalistic ideas about the country’s unique geography. His attention to the harsh conditions of winter travel, however, is in keeping with the tradition of Japanese art. When we engage with art, we must remember that its meaning is always tied to its social and institutional context. Further research into the economic history of the Edo period and into the changing status of artists and tourism would provide more insights into works like this.