Landscape Views along the Tokaido, vol. 1

During the early 1850s, Hiroshige designed many picture books of landscapes and famous places. Some multivolume works integrated kyoka poetry into the compositions and were known as kyoka-bon, or “books of kyoka.” Hiroshige incorporated the cursive script into the compositions in unusual ways, often utilizing the landscape features to accentuate the text. In the preface of volume one, Hiroshige’s double-page illustration (a) shows the variety of people travelers might encounter on the Tokaido highway. The twenty-four labeled figures include pilgrims, traveling Buddhist priests and priestesses, and prostitutes. The sweeping vista illustrated in volume three exploits the double-page format in a vertical composition entitled Returning Pilgrims to Horaiji Temple in Sansu Province (b). Horaiji Temple was popular for its healing powers since the main deity was Yakushi Nyorai, the Buddha of Medicine and Healing.