This 2015 print depicts the Kumano Kodo, the network of ancient pilgrimage routes through the Kii Peninsula in Wakayama Prefecture that has been a sacred travel corridor since the tenth century. The path to Kumano passes through dense forested mountain terrain — cedar forests, river valleys, stone-paved trails — and the subject positions Moilanen within the [meisho-e](/glossary/meisho-e) tradition of travel and landscape prints while also invoking pilgrimage as spiritual practice. Mokuhanga suits this subject particularly well: the technique's natural gradations through [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) can render the layered green depths of ancient forest, and the [washi](/glossary/washi) substrate's organic texture complements imagery of old stone paths. A Finnish artist engaging with Japan's oldest sacred pilgrimage routes creates an implicit reflection on travel, landscape, and the relationship between terrain and spiritual experience — themes that resonate between Nordic forest culture and Japanese mountain asceticism.
Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Woodblock print
1934
Color woodblock print; oban
n.d.
Woodblock print; ishizuri-e, section of harimaze sheet
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
On the Way to Kumano was created by Tuula Moilanen in 2015.
On the Way to Kumano depicts landscapes, travel scenes, and mountains.
On the Way to Kumano measures 38 × 25 cm.
