Kisokaido Kano

Medium:: Woodblock print
Format:: Oban
Source:: Japanese Art Open Database

Typical Price

$1,000–$6,000. Common subjects: $1,000–$2,000. Key value factors: Nishijima's nostalgic Japanese village scenes appeal to collectors worldwide. Limited editions maintain value well.

Description

The Kisokaido highway town of Kano — one of the sixty-nine post stations along the mountain road connecting Edo to Kyoto — is depicted with Nishijima's characteristic attention to the architectural character of traditional road towns: the deep-eaved facades of the honjin lodges and merchant houses that lined the highway, the proportions of a street designed for the specific needs of travelers on foot, horse, and palanquin. The Kisokaido's mountain towns preserved forms of vernacular architecture and townscape that had almost entirely disappeared from Japan's urban centers.