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
Oiso: Tora's Rain (Oiso, Tora ga ame), 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
Shimada: The Suruga Bank of the Oi River (Shimada, Oigawa Sungan), 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
Akasaka, Fujikawa, Okazaki, Chiryu, and Narumi, 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
Four Stations: Okabe, Fujieda, Shimada and Kanaya, from the series Famous Views of the Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō Road (Tōkaidō gojūsan eki yonshuku meisho)
Edo period, circa 1830-1835 (Tenpō 1-6)
Ukiyo-e woodblock print in "ōban" format; ink and color on paper, with printed signature reading "Ichiyūsai Kuniyoshi ga"
Hara, Yoshiwara, and Kanbara, from the series "Famous Places on the Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido, Three Stations (Tokaido gojusan eki sanshuku meisho)"
c. 1830/35
Color woodblock print; oban
Minakuchi, Ishibe, Kusatsu, Otsu, and Kyoto, 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
Nihonbashi, Shinagawa, Kawasaki, and Kanagawa, from the series "Famous Places on the Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido, Four Stations (Tokaido gojusan eki yonshuku meisho)"
c. 1830/35
Color woodblock print; oban
Near Kumamoto
1980
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Takayama
1964
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Diary: Feb. 23rd '02, in London
2002
Screenprint
Okitsu
1928
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Sannenzaka
1976
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
A Park in Guangzhou
1941
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Diary: July 18 '08, in Israel
2008
Woodcut, silkscreen
Diary: July 9th '08, in Istanbul
2008
Woodcut, silkscreen
Diary: Sept. 11th, '11, in The United States
2011
Woodcut, silkscreen
Remains of the Checkpoint at Shitomae - しとまえの関址
Woodblock print
Grand Canyon
1925
Woodblock print
Enoshima
Unknown
Color woodblock print
Camping at Washibadake
1926
Color woodblock print
Diary: Sept. 10th, '06 in Chicago
2006
Woodblock and silkscreen; edition 9/12
Inariyama, Nagano Prefecture (Nagano ken Inariyama)
1947
Color woodblock print
Odawara
Woodblock print
Grand Canyon, Shôwa period, dated 1925
Shôwa period, 1926-1989
Woodblock print
Tansui
1941
Woodblock print
India Nautch Dancers
1923
Woodblock print
Comb Products in Tsuchiyama
c. 1804
Color woodblock print
Illustration of products in Yoshida
1804
Color woodblock print
Morning Mist on the Taj Mahal No. 5, Shôwa period, dated 1932
Shôwa period, 1926-1989
Woodblock print
Caravan from Afganistan
1932
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Diary: Sep. 16th '01, in Israel
2001
Woodcut, silkscreen
Totomi nakayama / Fugaku Sanju Rokkei
Woodblock print
Honolulu
1933
Woodblock print
Diary: Sept. 2nd '05, in Weed, California
2005
Screenprint
Diary: Sept. 8th '07, in Weed CA
2007
Woodcut, silkscreen
Red Wall (Akai kabe), from the series "Manchuria (Manshu)"
1944 (printed c. 1950 from recut block?)
Color woodblock print; oban
Visitors to Enoshima
c. 1801/04
Color woodblock print; ebangire, surimono
The Outskirts of Agra No. 3
1932
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Diary: Nov. 3rd, '12, in Hangzhou
2012
Woodcut, silkscreen
A Wayside Scene (Oji)
1801–04
Color woodblock print; oban surimono
Singapore
1931
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Kuwana
Woodblock print
Khyber, 1916
Not set
Woodblock print
Celyon 1916
Not set
Woodblock print
Kamakura
1916
Woodblock print
Taj Mahal at Dawn
1916
Drawing
Boston Common, Shôwa period,
Woodblock print
Old North Church in Boston
Woodblock print
Tiruchchirappalli
Woodblock print
Woman on Deck
1912
Color woodblock print
Three girls strolling at Arashiyama
Woodblock print
Shanghai
1920s
Color woodblock print
Eight Noted Places of Kyoto- Complete Eight-Print Set With Album
Woodblock print
Peshawar
Not set
Woodblock print
Old State House of Boston
Woodblock print
New Years Lanterns, Malacca (Morning)
Woodblock print
Agra
1916
color woodcut
Amritsar 1916
1916
Drawing
Cincinnati II
20th century
Woodblock print; edition 32/100
Chinese Woman, Hong Kong
1917
Color 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.