Odawara c. 1840 - 1842

Curator: Before us we have Utagawa Hiroshige's "Odawara," a woodblock print from around 1840-1842, part of the "Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō" series. Editor: The sky alone makes me want to melt into it, like some otherworldly popsicle. There's also a procession in the middle ground… Tiny people walking along, but to where? Curator: That procession represents, on the surface, the transport of a daimyo, a feudal lord, and all their attendants traveling on the Tokaido road. The socio-political dimensions are, however, rather more complex, since the Tōkaidō, while crucial to travel, was also rigorously governed and controlled by the shogunate. Every element of life, including travel, became implicated in power relations. Editor: Wow, heavy. I saw sunshine and gentle breezes, you’re laying down bureaucratic surveillance. Seriously, those pines are so sculptural! Do you think Hiroshige sat under one and just went with it, en plein air? Curator: The influence of Western painting methods and realism on ukiyo-e is important. The landscapes do feel observed, not just imagined. In this composition, though, we see Hiroshige balancing observational accuracy with conventions, deploying, for example, flattened perspectives that emphasize pattern and decorative arrangement. Notice the way the foreground is deliberately tilted? Editor: He creates space by tilting it. It’s… unexpected and playful! Makes me wonder about those travelers and the stories they’re carrying on their shoulders. What hopes, secrets, what’s weighing them down, literally and figuratively, you know? Are they all miserable because of regulations? Curator: Well, in exploring this work through the lens of historical travel and societal structure, we see how daily life during that time was heavily affected by those kinds of state controls. Not always miserable but undeniably impacted! And while it’s interesting to engage in personal storytelling in front of such scenes, perhaps we also remember that lives under such regulations tend to have different freedoms, or limitations than what many might think is appropriate. Editor: Alright, alright! So it’s layered! Okay, "Odawara" makes me ponder the world then, now, and what stories get left behind. Makes you kinda grateful for sunshine. Curator: Precisely. Considering context, even a serene landscape whispers tales of political structure and lives governed by those structures.