Omiya, pl. 5 from a facsimile edition of Sixty-nine Stations of the Kiso Highway 

"Omiya", plate five from Keisai Eisen's series "Sixty-nine Stations of the Kiso Highway," offers us a window into 19th-century Japan, a society rigidly stratified yet vibrant with cultural exchange. The woodblock print captures a bustling scene along the Kiso Highway, a vital route connecting Edo, present day Tokyo, to Kyoto. Here, we see travelers from various social strata – peasants, merchants, and possibly even samurai – navigating the landscape. The visual emphasis on commoners in the landscape speaks to the cultural interest in representing the lives of ordinary people in the Edo period. Eisen, working within the artistic traditions of his time, subtly challenges the established norms of representation. How does the weight of their burdens – both literal and metaphorical – shape their journey and, by extension, the nation's story? This image invites us to consider not only the physical journey undertaken by the figures depicted, but also the broader societal currents that shaped their lives and movements. In capturing this particular moment in time, Eisen offers a meditation on the ever changing dynamics of Japanese society.