![No. 20: Rain on the Hiratsuka Plain near Kutsukake Station (Niju: Kutsukake no eki, Hiratsukahara uchu no kei), from the series "[Sixty-nine Stations of the] Kisokaido (Kisokaido [rokujukyu tsugi no uchi])" by Keisai Eisen — Japanese Color woodblock print; oban, c. 1835/36](https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/f09d79df-02f5-a8d0-97f6-00130281a62a/full/843,/0/default.jpg)
by Keisai Eisen
Designed around 1830, this Keisai Eisen print from the celebrated series Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaido (Kisokaido rokujukyu tsugi no uchi) depicts the twentieth post-station, Kutsukake, set against the rain-swept expanse of the Hiratsuka Plain. The Kisokaido was the inland highway connecting Edo and Kyoto through the mountainous interior of Honshu, and Eisen contributed roughly twenty-four of the series' designs before the project was completed by Utagawa Hiroshige. Published by Takenouchi Magohachi (Hoeido), the series occupies a singular place in Edo [ukiyo-e](/glossary/ukiyo-e) history as a counterpart to Hiroshige's celebrated Tokaido Road designs, showing the rougher, more weather-beaten landscapes of the mountain route. In this composition, Eisen renders a sudden downpour cutting diagonally across the plain, the travelers bent under straw raincoats and umbrellas as they push toward shelter. Although his reputation rests largely on [bijin-ga](/glossary/bijin-ga), Eisen here demonstrates a confident command of landscape, using [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) gradations to lay heavy gray clouds across the sky and parallel lines of woodblock-printed rain to flatten the middle distance. The horizontal format and low horizon line emphasize the openness of the terrain and the smallness of the figures within it, an approach that aligns Eisen's landscape sensibility with the new wave of [meisho-e](/glossary/meisho-e) (famous-place pictures) emerging in the late 1820s and early 1830s. The print is preserved in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, which holds one of the most comprehensive sets of the Kisokaido series outside Japan, making it a valuable touchstone for studying Eisen's contributions to landscape ukiyo-e.
1843/46
Color woodblock print; oban
c. 1840/44
Color woodblock print; oban
1843–1847
Color woodblock print
1962
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
c. 1833-36
Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
Ame no Omiya
1930
Color woodblock print; oban
Teradomari no yau
1921
Color woodblock print; oban
No. 20: Rain on the Hiratsuka Plain near Kutsukake Station (Niju: Kutsukake no eki, Hiratsukahara uchu no kei), from the series "[Sixty-nine Stations of the] Kisokaido (Kisokaido [rokujukyu tsugi no uchi])" was created by Keisai Eisen (渓斎英泉) in c. 1835/36.
No. 20: Rain on the Hiratsuka Plain near Kutsukake Station (Niju: Kutsukake no eki, Hiratsukahara uchu no kei), from the series "[Sixty-nine Stations of the] Kisokaido (Kisokaido [rokujukyu tsugi no uchi])" depicts rain.