No.Hiratsuka 1847 - 1852

This is Utagawa Hiroshige’s woodblock print "No.Hiratsuka" made in 19th century Japan, part of his series "Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido." Hiroshige captures a scene from the Tokaido road, the main route connecting Edo, now Tokyo, with Kyoto, the imperial capital. It portrays not just a physical location, but the social fabric of Japan at the time. We see travelers from different social classes on their journey, each carrying different things. The Tokaido road itself became a symbol of the changing Japanese society, facilitating trade and cultural exchange but also serving the state's need to exert control. Art historians study prints like these to understand the socio-economic dynamics of 19th-century Japan, using travel diaries, government records, and other documents to reconstruct the world that Hiroshige depicted. By understanding the social and institutional context, we gain insights into the world that produced such images.