Sixty-Nine Stations of the Kisokaido

 The Sixty-Nine Stations of the Kisokaido by Keisai Eisen, Utagawa Hiroshige, and Sebastian Izzard, 157 pages

Nineteenth century Japan saw an intense interest in travel, and a corresponding market for travel books and prints, whether sold as guides, mementos, or as objects of art.  Among the main routes for travel was the Kisokaido, a highway running down the center of Honshu from the Tokugawa capital of Edo to the imperial capital of Kyoto.  The artist Keisai Eisen was commissioned to create a series of prints depicting the route, but he only completed 24 prints before abandoning the project, which was then handed over to Utagawa Hiroshige, whose fame as a master of ukiyo-e was destined to eclipse that of Eisen.

The Sixty-Nine Stations of the Kisokaido collects the best reproductions of the original prints and offers both an opportunity for aesthetic appreciation and a vicarious journey through 19th century Japan.  Izzard offers his guidance for each of these paths, commenting on the sites depicted and on the history of the prints themselves.  Whatever the motive, the journey is certain to be a rewarding one.