Routekaart voor de beroemde plekken in Ise Possibly 1900 - 1931

This map of Ise was made by Nishida Shinshichi with woodblock printing. Imagine the back and forth of planning this journey, then carving all these elements into wood—all those rooftops and trees, the sea, and the great sunburst up above. I wonder what it might have been like to create this? There’s such a beautiful layering of shapes, colors, and textures. Take the trees with their red blossoms, or the repeating houses, and the water in between, as if it's all rippling and shimmering. Everything seems interconnected and alive! All these elements create depth but also flatten the image, giving a sense of rhythm and repetition. I imagine Shinshichi meticulously planning each mark, each block, each color. Yet, within that constraint, there’s room for exploration and improvisation. The way the colors interact with each other—the greens and the reds, the purples and the yellows—they create a vibrant, almost dreamlike quality. Thinking of other printmakers like Hokusai or Hiroshige, I’m reminded how artists create their own visual language to interpret the world. It's all one big, inspiring conversation.