Hanga
The Outer Shrine at Ise (Ise Gekû), 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 by Kawanabe Kyosai — Japanese Woodblock print

The Outer Shrine at Ise (Ise Gekû), 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

by Kawanabe Kyosai

Medium:
Woodblock print
Image courtesy of
Museum of Fine Arts Boston

Description

This print depicts the Ise Gekû — the Outer Shrine of the Ise Jingu — as a meisho-e subject within the Tôkaidô meisho no uchi series. The Outer Shrine's role as the residence of Toyouke Ômikami, and its visual character of unornamented wooden architecture within cryptomeria forest, posed a compositional challenge distinct from the more pictorially varied stations of the Tôkaidô proper. The sanctity of the inner precinct prohibited close approach by ordinary pilgrims, so compositions representing Ise typically focus on the forested approach roads, the outer torii, and the chôzuya purification basins rather than the shrine buildings themselves. The Gyôretsu Tôkaidô framing of the series implies daimyo procession elements alongside the pilgrim traffic, situating official travel within a landscape defined by religious obligation. Kyosai, whose career spanned the transition from Edo devotion culture to Meiji modernization, brings to this canonical subject the pictorial intelligence of an artist working at the edge of a tradition that was rapidly being transformed.

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Curated cross-cuts that include this print.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Outer Shrine at Ise (Ise Gekû), 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 was created by Kawanabe Kyosai (河鍋暁斎).

Yes — The Outer Shrine at Ise (Ise Gekû), 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 is part of the Scenes of Famous Places along the Tôkaidô Road series by Kawanabe Kyosai.

The Outer Shrine at Ise (Ise Gekû), 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 depicts temples & shrines, tōkaidō, and famous places (meisho-e).