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Printmaker Ando Hiroshige revealed an 1800s Japan that few could see

by Leon Nigrosh

HIROSHIGE: 53 STATIONS ON THE TOKAIDO
At the Worcester Art Museum, 55 Salisbury Street, Worcester, through January 23, 2000.

In the summer of 1832 the popular Japanese artist Ando Hiroshige was invited to accompany a troop of shoguns as they delivered horses to the emperor in the capital city of Kyoto from their fortifications in Edo (today's Tokyo). The 300-mile trip (which was an annual journey) on the well-traveled Tokaido passageway took seasoned travelers such as these at least two weeks to complete on foot. During his trip, Hiroshige took the opportunity to sketch this often exciting, sometimes treacherous, and mostly tedious excursion, recording not only the magnificent landscapes -- with Mt. Fuji always in the background -- but also the architecture and the people he encountered.

After returning to Edo, Hiroshige and his publisher produced a print series of his colorful adventures, releasing them to the public as each work was finished. Because the roundtrip journey took more than a month to complete, only samurai, merchants, and religious pilgrims ventured onto this primitive, but well-worn roadway. Ordinary folks could not afford the time nor money it took, so they traveled vicariously, and safely, by viewing each of Hiroshige's vivid Tokaido portrayals.

In 1901, John Chandler Bancroft gave a complete set of Hiroshige's "53 Stations on the Tokaido," the Hoeido edition, to the Worcester Art Museum. This current exhibition is the first time this remarkably preserved collection has been shown in its entirety, arranged in topographical order from the gates of Nihonbashi to the final view of the Great Sanjo Bridge at the entrance of Kyoto.

Hiroshige's eye for detail makes each print both charming and captivating. In some cases, Hiroshige made more than one version of a particular scene. In one view of his Shinagawa: Daimyo's Departure, while common travelers prostrate themselves as the daimyo's entourage passes by, shopkeepers stand and watch. In the other image, the shopkeepers entice the troop into buying food and souvenirs. For his depiction of Totsuka: Motomachi Detour, Hiroshige reused most of the 20-plus hand-carved wood blocks to create the color-filled background scene, repositioning only the figure of the principal traveler. In an evening scene he is shown getting off his horse; in a morning view he is mounting up. But if you compare the two prints closely, you can spot a number of other amusing changes.

Hiroshige didn't just illustrate the physical attributes of each rest stop, he attempted to recreate the mood of the surrounding area and the feelings of the weary travelers. In Mishima: Morning Mist, instead of producing another brilliantly hued print, he places the emphasis on the ghostly figures stepping into the gray mist while a horseman and palanquin carriers prepare for the journey's next leg. He also injects humor into many of the prints; Okitsu River, for example, depicts a group of hapless porters as they struggle to carry two huge Sumo wrestlers through the narrow rock formations.

Hiroshige portrays the attendants as they continue to make their 20-mile-a-day trek through narrow passes, along steep pathways, across small rivers and streams, pausing only to rest at a tea stall, to change porters and bearers, to eat, or to spend the night in an inn. In Goyu: Women Soliciting Travelers, the "waitresses" are physically yanking men off the street and into their establishment before curfew for a night of "foot washing and dinner."

Today, all of the way stations are gone; the Tokaido has been transformed into a superhighway, and the Shinkansen bullet train makes the same trip in two hours and 49 minutes.

The museum is open Wednesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call 799-4406.