Travel Scenes Prints (502)
Travel scenes document journeys along Japan's historic roads, sea routes, and pilgrimage paths, forming one of the woodblock print tradition's most commercially successful and artistically significant genres. The meisho-e (famous places) format, which presented sequential views of notable sites along a route, generated some of ukiyo-e's greatest masterworks and established templates that artists followed for generations. Hiroshige's "Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido" (1833-34), depicting the post stations along the great road connecting Edo and Kyoto, became the bestselling print series of the Edo period and defined the travel-scene genre. Its success spawned dozens of road series by Hiroshige himself and his contemporaries, documenting the Kisokaido, Nikko road, and other major routes. These prints served dual purposes — as art objects and as practical references for travelers, capturing the character of inns, teahouses, and scenic viewpoints along each route. The travel-scene tradition continued into the modern era as artists documented Japan's expanding railway network and new tourist destinations. Shin-hanga publishers like Watanabe Shozaburo commissioned series of famous views specifically targeting the tourist market, both domestic and international, creating prints that continue to define visual expectations of Japan's most celebrated landscapes.
Artists Known for Travel Scenes
Tsuchiyama, Forest Road, from the series 53 Stations of the Tokaido
1969
Color woodblock print
The Asano River in Kanazawa (Kanazawa Asanogawa), from the series "Souvenirs of Travel, Second Series (Tabi miyage dai nishu)"
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Shinbashi Station 70 Years Ago
Woodblock print
View of Fuji at Inuma Ridge in Koshu
Woodblock print
Street, road, village
Woodblock print
Tokyo Station, from the series Recollections of Tokyo
1945
Color woodblock print
Image with Poem from Recollection of Travel
1950
Woodblock print
Kawaguchi Lake Shore in Koshu District (Koshu Kawaguchi kohan)
1930
Woodblock print
Memory of a Journey
Woodblock print
Road to Izumo Mountain Hot Spring
1942
Color woodblock print
Procession- The Three Marys
Woodblock print
Kusatsu (Tokaido Series)
Woodblock print
Shimada: Lone Road
Woodblock print
Cover page of portfolio "Journey to the Homeland (Sokoku he no tabi)"
1947
Woodblock print (Individual prints in portfolio: 1962.237.1-17)
Refugees at a Camp (Shuyosho no hitobito), from the series "Journey to the Homeland (Sokoku e no tabi)"
1947
Woodblock print
Traveler at Rest
Woodblock print
Famous Views of the Tokaido: A Mirage at Kuwana
Woodblock print
Famous Views of the Tokaido: Enjoying a Midday Noh Performance
Woodblock print
Famous Views of the Tokaido: The Rashomon Gate as It Was Once Was
Woodblock print
Figures from Ôtsu-e Paintings in a Parody of Narihira's Journey to the East (Ôtsu-e no azuma kudari), from the series One Hundred Pictures by Kyôsai (Kyôsai hyakuzu)
Woodblock print
Mariko in Suruga Province: Comic Antics at the Inn (Shukuba no kyôgi), from the series Calligraphy and Pictures for the Fifty-three Stations of the Tôkaidô (Shoga gojûsan eki)
Woodblock print
Tenpôzan in Osaka: Viewing Children's Sumo (Naniwa Tenpôzan kodomo sumô shôran), 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
1863
Woodblock print
Battle at Jinzhoucheng on the Road to Port Arthur
1894 (Meiji 27)
Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
Shinbashi Stenshon (sic) (Shinbashi Station)
Woodblock print
Pilgrimage to Enoshima
Woodblock print
Shono, Kameyama, Seki, Sakanoshita, and Tsuchiyama, from the series "Famous Places on the Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido, Five Stations (Tokaido gojusan eki goshuku meisho)"
c. 1830/35
Color woodblock print; oban
Fujieda station on the Tokaido
c. 1796
Color woodblock print; surimono
Fujisawa, from the series Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi)
Woodblock print
Hiratsuka, from the series Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi)
Woodblock print
Hodogaya, from the series Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi)
Woodblock print
Ishiyakushi, from the series Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi)
Woodblock print
Kajikazawa in Kai Province (Koshu kajikazawa), from the series Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji (Fugaku sanjurokkei)
Woodblock print
Kanagawa, from the series Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi)
Woodblock print
Kisokaido Ono no taki-nuno / Shokoku Taki-meguri
Woodblock print
Kawasaki, from the series Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi)
Woodblock print
Nihonbashi, from the series Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi)
Woodblock print
Odawara, from the series Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi)
Woodblock print
Oiso, from the series Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi)
Woodblock print
Ono Falls on the Kiso Kaido Road (Kisokaido Ono no bakufu), from the series Tour of the Waterfalls in Various Provinces (Shokoku Taki meguri)
Woodblock print
Parody of Ariwara no Narihira's eastern journey
c. 1803
Color woodblock print; oban, surimono
Shinagawa, from the series Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi)
Woodblock print
Shono, from an untitled series of the fifty-three stations of the Tokaido
c. 1804
Color woodblock print; kokonotsugiri-ban
Taganoura Bay near Ejiri on the Tokaido (Tokaido Ejiri tagono ura ryakuzu), from the series Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji (Fugaku sanjuokkei)
Woodblock print
Tokaido Sakanoshita
Woodblock print
Tokaido Kanaya no Fuji / Fugaku Sanju Rokkei
Woodblock print
Tokaido Okazaki Yahagi-no-hashi / Shokoku Meikyo Kiran
Woodblock print
Tokaido Sakanoshita Kiyotaki Kannon / Shokoku taki-meguri
Woodblock print
Totsuka, from the series Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi)
Woodblock print
Traveler on Horseback under Bloomed Cherry Tree
1790s
Woodblock print (nishiki-e), ink and color on paper
Arai: View of Ferryboats (Arai, watashibune no zu), from the series "Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi no uchi)," also known as the Hoeido Tokaido
c. 1833/34
Color woodblock print; oban
Fujikawa: View of Post Outskirts (Fujikawa, bohana no zu), from the series "Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi no uchi)," also known as the Hoeido Tokaido
c. 1833/34
Color woodblock print; oban
Kanbara: Evening Snow (Kanbara, yoru no yuki), from the series "Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi no uchi)," also known as the Hoeido Tokaido
c. 1833/34
Color woodblock print; oban
Hakone: View of the Lake (Hakone, kosui no zu), from the series "Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido Road (Tokaido gojusan tsugi no uchi)," also known as the Hoeido Tokaido
c. 1833/34
Color woodblock print; oban
Hiratsuka: Nawate Road (Hiratsuka, Nawate michi), from the series "Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido Road (Tokaido gojusan tsugi no uchi)," also known as the Hoeido Tokaido
c. 1833/34
Color woodblock print; oban
Ishibe: Megawa Village (Ishibe, Megawa no sato), from the series "Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi no uchi)," also known as the Hoeido Tokaido
c. 1833/34
Color woodblock print; oban
Mitsuke: View of the Tenryu River (Mitsuke, Tenryugawa zu), from the series "Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi no uchi)," also known as the Hoeido Tokaido
c. 1833/34
Color woodblock print; oban
Miya: Religious Festival at Atsuta Shrine (Miya, Atsuta shinji), from the series "Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi no uchi)," also known as the Hoeido Tokaido
c. 1833/34
Color woodblock print; oban
Nihon Bridge: Morning Scene (Nihonbashi, asa no kei), from the series "Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido Road (Tokaido gojusan tsugi no uchi)," also known as the Hoeido Tokaido
c. 1833/34
Color woodblock print; oban
No 24 Shimada Oi-gawa Shungan / Tokaido Gojusan-tsugi no uchi
Woodblock print
No 66 Echikawa / Kisokaido Rokujukyu-tsugi no uchi
Woodblock print
Related Subjects
Frequently Asked Questions
Travel scenes document journeys along Japan's historic roads, sea routes, and pilgrimage paths, forming one of the woodblock print tradition's most commercially successful and artistically significant genres. The meisho-e (famous places) format, which presented sequential views of notable sites along a route, generated some of ukiyo-e's greatest masterworks and established templates that artists followed for generations.
Kawase Hasui, Jun'ichiro Sekino, and Utagawa Hiroshige are among the artists most associated with travel scenes in our collection. Browse the full list of artists who explored this subject above.
Hanga currently catalogues 502 prints tagged with travel scenes, spanning ukiyo-e, shin-hanga, and sōsaku-hanga traditions where applicable.