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Fuchū, no. 20 from the series Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō (Reisho Tōkaidō)

Fuchū, no. 20 from the series Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō (Reisho Tōkaidō)

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Utagawa Hiroshige

The Tōkaidō, or “eastern sea road,” was an important preindustrial roadway connecting Edo (present-day Tokyo) and Kyoto in Japan. Fifty-three official stations along the Tōkaidō offered places to stop for a meal, shop for supplies, enjoy local entertainment, and find lodging. In this depiction of the station Fuchū, Hiroshige featured the gate to the Miroku pleasure district near the Abe River. The two men on horseback may allude to the comedic characters Yaji and Kita from a popular novel about the Tōkaidō by Jippensha Ikku (1765–1831). In the story, the two “pilgrims” hire horses to carry them to the pleasure district, where courtesans entertain them for the night.
Artist
Utagawa Hiroshige
(Japanese, 1797 - 1858)
Title
Fuchū, no. 20 from the series Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō (Reisho Tōkaidō)
Date
ca. 1850
Medium
Color woodcut
Dimensions
ca. 220 x 348 mm Overall
Credit
Bequest of John H. Van Vleck
Accession No.
1980.999
Classification
Prints
Geography
Japan

Related

By 1925, purchased in Japan by Frank Lloyd Wright; ca. 1926, acquired by The Bank of Wisconsin; 1928, sold to Edward Burr Van Vleck (Madison, WI); 1943, passed through inheritance to Edward’s son, John H. Van Vleck (Madison, WI); 9 January 1980, bequeathed by John H. Van Vleck to the Elvehjem Museum of Art [now called Chazen Museum of Art]

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