No. 22, Okabe: Mount Utsu Pass and Famous Dumplings (Utsu no ya[ma] tōge, meibutsu jÅ«dango), from the series The Tōkaidō Road, The Fifty-three Stations (Tōkaidō, GojÅ«san tsugi no uchi) c. 1850 - 1851

Editor: This print, "No. 22, Okabe: Mount Utsu Pass and Famous Dumplings," by Utagawa Hiroshige, depicts a journey through the mountains. It feels like the figures are dwarfed by the landscape. What stands out to you? Curator: I see a visual narrative of labor and class. Note how the porters are bent, burdened, their bodies contorted by the weight. Consider their journey in relation to the leisure of those they serve, the dumplings a symbol of the economic disparity inherent in travel. How does this perspective shift your initial reading? Editor: It definitely adds a layer of social commentary that I hadn't considered before. Seeing the dumplings as a symbol of class differences is powerful. Curator: Right. The romanticism of travel often obscures the realities of those who enable it. Thinking critically about whose stories are centered – and whose are erased – is essential to understanding this work.