Okitsu, from the series Scenes of Famous Places along the Tôkaidô Road (Tôkaidô meisho fûkei), also known as the Processional Tôkaidô (Gyôretsu Tôkaidô), here called Tôkaidô
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Source:
- Museum of Fine Arts Boston
- Image courtesy of
- Museum of Fine Arts Boston
Description
This impression of the Okitsu station design from the Tōkaidō meisho fûkei series shows the seventeenth post town at the point where overland travel confronted the unbridged Okitsu River. Processions — particularly those of daimyo traveling under sankin-kōtai obligations — required kawagoshi porters to carry entire retinues through the current, a spectacle that made Okitsu a recognized subject in meisho-e. Kyosai renders the physical labor of the crossing with the directness characteristic of his figure work, avoiding the decorative idealization common to lesser printmakers working this subject. The Suruga Bay coastline visible beyond the river mouth provides a horizontal counterweight to the vertical mass of bearers and riders. Gradated sky tones in this nishiki-e oban impression give the scene an atmospheric midday brightness appropriate to the coastal setting.
More Prints by Kawanabe Kyosai
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Tsukishimadera Temple in Hyôgo (Hyôgo Tsukishimadera), from the series Scenes of Famous Places along the Tôkaidô Road (Tôkaidô meisho fûkei), also known as the Processional Tôkaidô (Gyôretsu Tôkaidô), here called Tôkaidô meisho no uchi
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Frequently Asked Questions
Okitsu, from the series Scenes of Famous Places along the Tôkaidô Road (Tôkaidô meisho fûkei), also known as the Processional Tôkaidô (Gyôretsu Tôkaidô), here called Tôkaidô was created by Kawanabe Kyosai (河鍋暁斎).
Yes — Okitsu, from the series Scenes of Famous Places along the Tôkaidô Road (Tôkaidô meisho fûkei), also known as the Processional Tôkaidô (Gyôretsu Tôkaidô), here called Tôkaidô is part of the Scenes of Famous Places along the Tôkaidô Road series by Kawanabe Kyosai.
Okitsu, from the series Scenes of Famous Places along the Tôkaidô Road (Tôkaidô meisho fûkei), also known as the Processional Tôkaidô (Gyôretsu Tôkaidô), here called Tôkaidô depicts transportation, tōkaidō, and travel scenes.