Tokaido Kusatsu Night Moon

This 1930 woodblock print depicts a night scene at Kusatsu, one of the fifty-three stations along the historic Tokaido road connecting Edo (Tokyo) to Kyoto. The Tokaido has been one of the most celebrated subjects in Japanese printmaking since Hiroshige's famous series of the 1830s, and Narazaki Eisho's 20th-century interpretation updates that tradition. Kusatsu, near Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefecture, was the junction where the Tokaido met the Nakasendo, another major highway, making it a busy crossroads for travelers. The moonlit setting bathes the scene in cool, silvery light, transforming the familiar post-town landscape into something mysterious and still. Narazaki's night scene required the printer to build up deep, dark tones for the sky and shadows while preserving the luminous glow of moonlight on rooftops, water, and the road surface.