The Hoeido edition of Utagawa Hiroshige’s iconic The Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido is a series of 55 oban format full-color woodblock prints depicting the 53 stations along the Tokaido highway that stretched from Edo to Kyoto. This series was intially jointly published in Tempo 4 (1833) by Hoeido (Takenouchi Magohachi) and Senkakudo (Tsuruya Kiemon) but later editions were independently published by Hoeido. The Hoeido series as it came to be known, was hugely popular and Hiroshige assumed the unassailable role of master of famous sites pictures. In fact, The Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido became synonymous with the name Hiroshige. During his lifetime he produced more than 20 series of Tokaido images. Another Tokaido series, published by Jukakudo (Maruya Seijiro) around Kaei 2 (1849) came to be known as the Reisho Tokaido, based on the reisho script style used in the title cartouche on each print.

This exhibition features the complete sets of these two iconic Tokaido series, namely the Hoeido edition of The Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido from the Nakagawa-machi Bato Hiroshige Museum of Art and the Reisho edition Tokaido from the Suntory Museum of Art collection. A comparison of the Hoeido and Reisho editions reveals the various tricks and contrivances used by Hiroshige in his depiction of the stations found along this major road, and the background of the production of each series. The display features early printings of the Hoeido edition, revised versions with various modifications made to the original print, and a bound picture album version that was re-released as a set after all the original 55 prints were completed, revealing how the print series developed as a popular product. A comparison with works by the Maruyama-Shijo school artists who were Hiroshige’s predecessors, and earlier depictions of meisho-e, literally famous site images, such as Mt. Fuji, the Omi district and Kyoto, indicates the influence these earlier artists and works had on Hiroshige’s images, and the fascination of Hiroshige’s scenic and figural depiction.

Finally, we hereby express our deep appreciation to all those who graciously lent their precious works for display in this exhibition, and to all those individuals and organizations who provided support and cooperation towards the realization of this exhibition.