Artistic License in Hiroshige

Not included in the brief clip from the NHK program on Hiroshige is the final work in the series, Sanjo Ohashi. Showing such iconic and representative Kyoto sights as Kiyomizu Temple, the 5-storey pagoda at Yasaka, and Higashiyama, the print also includes sacred Mt. Hiei, which is not, in fact, in its correct location. (The mountain has, in a manner of speaking, come to Hiroshige.) The print is here.

NHK History Detective: Ukiyoe Master Hiroshige

National broadcaster NHK airs a program on Wednesday evenings called 歴史探偵, or 'History Detective'. Yesterday evening's theme was Edo Era artist Hiroshige, master of ukiyoe. His best-known series, which depicts 53 scenes from the post towns along the old Tokai Road linking Edo and Kyoto, contains striking examples of artistic license, as this clip reveals. Registration required to watch the full episode. (Including the start at Nihonbashi and finish, Sanjo Ohashi, the full series runs to 55 prints.) For the complete series, see here .

View 35 from Utagawa Hiroshige's 53 Tokaido Views Series

A present-day view (Wikipedia) from Toyokawa, Aichi Prefecture.

Futagawa: View #36 of Hiroshige's Tokai Road Series

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Futagawa, Aichi prefecture, as depicted by Hiroshige 

Hiroshige's "Yoshida" View, with Toyokawa Bridge: #37

Hiroshige's woodcut shows steeplejacks, or tobi, repairing a castle beside the river Toyo in present-day Aichi. Years ago one of my students at middle school decided not to continue his education, opting instead to become a steeplejack. I suggested to one of my colleagues that perhaps this wasn't a particularly wise move for the young man. The teacher's wry comment: the accomplished tobi can make as much as 1,000,000 yen in a month (approx. $11,000). By the way, the Japanese term for "black kite" (the bird) is tobi, and the two share the following Chinese character: 鳶 .

On the Tokai Road Again: Hiroshige's Woodcut Series, # 38

Hiroshige's print shows a view of Edo-era Goyu, a neighborhood in present-day Toyokawa City, Aichi prefecture. The man seated at right has a tub for bathing the feet and appears to be directing the attendant's attention to a particularly bothersome blister, no doubt caused by the chafing of his straw sandals, or waraji. The lower photos show views of the area today.

Goodbye to All That: Back to the Old Tokai Road： Akasaka, #39

ａｂｏｖｅ：　ａ　ｌｉｖｅｌｙ　ｉｎｎ　ｓｃｅｎｅ　ａｔ　Ａｋａｓａｋａ，　Ｔｏｙｏｋａｗａ，　Ａｉｃｈｉ

ｂｅｌｏｗ：　ｔｈｅ　Ｏｈａｓｈｉｙａ　ｉｎ　ｔｏｄａｙ’ｓ　Ｔｏｙｏｋａｗａ　

Hiroshige's Tokaido Series: #40, Fujikawa

Fujikawa is a section of Okazaki City, Aichi Prefecture.  The lower photos show the area as it appears today.  Fujikawa is located about 300 km from the Nihonbashi, Tokyo, start of the Tokai Road.   

The Tokaido Road: # 41, Okazaki

Hiroshige's Tokaido Series: View 42

Regarding this woodcut, I especially like the shape of the pine tree in the middle ground- it is so typically Japanese. 

Hiroshige's Tokaido Series: View 43

Hiroshige's woodcut at top, with contemporary views below. The area (in present-day Nagoya) is traditionally famous for its beautiful tie-dyed cloth,called arimatsu shibori. 

Hiroshige's Tokai Series: 44, 45, and 46

Hiroshige's Tokaido Series: 47, 48, and 49

Hiroshige's woodcuts of the Tokai Road show lively Edo era scenes. 

View 50 ：Sakanoshita (坂之下）, from Hiroshige's Tokaido Series

Sakanoshita, on the border between Shiga and Mie prefectures, lies about 420 km from the start of the Tokai Road in Tokyo. In Hiroshige's day there were about 125 inns for travelers in Sakanoshita.  The hamlet today comprises a little over 100 households.   

Hiroshige's Tokaido: View 51, 土山

Hiroshige's woodcut at top, with present-day views below

Hiroshige's Tokai Road: View 52

Hiroshige depicts a village scene with women in the foreground hanging strips of kampyo, or dried gourd shavings.  The second photo shows bundled kampyo.  The lower two photos show dishes made with kampyo, with the vegetable used as a tie in the bottommost.

Hiroshige's Tokai Road: View 53

A traveler along the Tokai Road in reverse, from Kyoto to Edo, might have stayed at the Ishibeya, depicted at top, about a day's journey from Kyoto.  The second photo shows the present-day Ishibeya, while the photo at bottom shows traditional structures in the village, located in Shiga Prefecture.

Hiroshige: "53 Stops on the Toaki Road": View 54

View 54 shows a tea shop in Otsu, the last stop on the Tokai road before Kyoto.

The second photo shows another of Hiroshige's pictures of the same scene.

Hiroshige's "Fifty-three Stops on the Tokai Road": View 55

# 55: The Great Sanjo Bridge, Kyoto

Hiroshige stood on the western bank of the Kamo River and painted this, the final stop of his series that contained 55 views in all.  He faced east, in the direction of Edo, the capital of the Tokugawa Shogunate and the start of the nearly 500 km long Tokai road, whose end he had reached.

The Great Sanjo Bridge today.