Hokusai 53 Stations of the Tokaido 1804 Horizontal E-Book

Cristina Berna

• Herausgeber: BoD - Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Seitenzahl: 148

Beschreibung

Hokusai´s 53 Stations of the Tokaido 1804 horizontal is something completely different from his first square edition 1801 and second edition 1802. Hokusai completely changes his style compared to the three previous series, 1801, 1802 and 1804 vertical. These designs are "clean" and a precursor for his famous 36 Views of Mt Fuji some 30 years later. In this series Hokusai focus on wonderful folkloric scenes of ordinary people going about their work, in addition to the travel scenes. Hokusai further develop the themes, touristic curiosities and landscapes that were to become a standard for later generations of Tokaido series. It was a great and beloved contribution to the Tokaido literature, which Hokusai dominated for some 30 years and this series is also much loved in the West.

Leseprobe

About the authors

Cristina Berna loves photographing and writing. She writes to entertain a diverse audience.

Eric Thomsen has published in science, economics and law, created exhibitions and arranged concerts.

Also by the authors:

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Hiroshige 53 Stations of the Tōkaidō

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Hiroshige Famous Vies of the Sixty-Odd Provinces

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Joaquin Sorolla Landscapes

Joaquin Sorolla Beach

Joaquin Sorolla Boats

Joaquin Sorolla Family

Joaquin Sorolla Nudes

Joaquin Sorolla Portraits

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Christmas

Christmas Nativity – Spain

Christmas Nativity Hallstatt

Christmas Nativity Vienna

Christmas Nativity Innsbruck

Christmas Nativity Salzburg

Christmas Market Innsbruck

Christmas Market Vienna

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Outpets

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Contact the authors

[email protected]

Published by www.missysclan.net

Cover picture:

Front: Print no 40 station 37 Fujikawa

Inside: Print No 45, station 41 Miya (detail)

Contents

Introduction

Katsushika Hokusai

Japanese Historical Periods

Edo period 1615 – 1868

Bushido

Woodblock Printing in Japan

Common Japanese Print Sizes

Chinese Landscape Painting

The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō: Hokusai 1804

No 1: Start: Nihonbashi

No 2: 1

st

station: Shinagawa-juku

No 3: 2

nd

station: Kawasaki-juku

No 4: 3

rd

station: Kanagawa-juku

No 5: 4

th

station: Hodogaya-juku

No 6: 5

th

station: Totsuka-juku

No 7: 6

th

station: Fujisawa-shuku

No 8: 7

th

station: Hiratsuka-juku

No 9: 8

th

station: Ōiso-juku

No 10: 9

th

station: Odawara-juku

No 11: 10

th

station: Hakone-juku

No 12: 11

th

station: Mishima-shuku

No 13: 12

th

station: Numazu-juku

No 14: 13

th

station: Hara-juku

No 15: 14

th

station: Yoshiwara-juku

No 16: 15

th

station: Kanbara-juku

No 17: 16

th

station: Yui-shuku

No 18: 17

th

station: Okitsu-juku

No 19: 18

th

station: Ejiri-juku

No 20: 19

th

station: Fuchū-shuku

No 21: 20

th

station Mariko-juku

No 22: 21

st

station Okabe-juku

No 23: 22

nd

station: Fujieda-juku

No 24: 23

rd

station Shimada-juku

No 25: 24

th

station Kanaya-juku

No 26: 25

th

station: Nissaka-shuku

No 27: 26

th

station: Kakegawa-juku

No 28: Village at Akibayama

No 29: Hora-ji Temple on Mt Horai

No 30: 27

th

station: Fukuroi-juku

No 31: 28

th

station: Mitsuke-juku

No 32: 29

th

station: Hamamatsu-juku

No 33: 30

th

station: Maisaka-juku

No 34: 31

st

station: Arai-juku

No 35: 32

nd

station: Shirasuka-juku

No 36: 33

rd

station: Futagawa-juku

No 37: 34

th

station Yoshida-juku

No 38: 35

th

station: Goyu-shuku

No 39: 36

th

station: Akasaka-juku

No 40: 37

th

station: Fujikawa-shuku

No 41: 38

th

station: Okazaki-shuku

No 42: Between Okazaki and Chiryū

No 43: 39

th

station: Chiryū-juku

No 44: 40

th

station: Narumi-juku

No 45: 41

st

station: Miya-juku

No 46: 42

nd

station: Kuwana-juku

No 47: 43

rd

station: Yokkaichi-juku

No 48: 44

th

station: Ishiyakushi-juku

No 49: 45

th

station: Shōno-juku

No 50: 46

th

station: Kameyama-juku

No 51: 47

th

station: Seki-juku

No 52: 48

th

station: Sakashita-juku

No 53: 49

th

station: Tsuchiyama-juku

No 54: 50

th

station: Minakuchi-juku

No 55: 51

st

station: Ishibe-juku

No 56: 52

nd

station: Kusatsu-juku

No 57: 53

rd

station: Ōtsu-juku

No 58 terminus: Kyoto, not original print

Notes

References

Introduction

Hokusai’s 53 Stations of the Tōkaidō 1804 horizontal is something completely different from his first square edition 1801 and second edition 1802.

Hokusai completely changes his style compared to the three previous series, 1801, 1802 and 1804 vertical.

These designs are “clean” and a precursor for his famous 36 Views of Mt Fuji some 30 years later. In this series Hokusai focus on wonderful folkloric scenes of ordinary people going about their work, in addition to the travel scenes.

Hokusai further develop the themes, touristic curiosities and landscapes that were to become a standard for later generations of Tōkaidō series.

It was a great and beloved contribution to the Tōkaidō literature, which Hokusai dominated for some 30 years and this series is also much loved in the West.

Katsushika Hokusai

Katsushika Hokusai (c. October 31, 1760 – May 10, 1849) was a Japanese artist, painter and printmaker in Edo (Tokyo) period 1760–1849. Hokusai established landscape as a new print genre in Japan.

At a young age, Hokusai was adopted by an uncle who held the prestigious position of mirror polisher in the household of the shogun, the commander-in-chief of feudal Japan. It was assumed that the young Hokusai would succeed him in the family business, and he likely received an excellent education in preparation for a job that would place him in direct contact with the upper class. In 19th-century Japan, learning to write also meant learning to draw, since the skills and materials required for either activity were almost identical.

When Hokusai’s formal education began at age six, he displayed an early artistic talent that would lead him down a new path. He began to separate himself from his uncle’s trade in his early teens— perhaps because of a personal argument, or perhaps because he believed polishable metal mirrors would soon be replaced by the silvered glass mirrors being imported by the Dutch—and

Above a self portrait of Hokusai as an old man worked first as a clerk at a lending library and then later as a woodblock carver. At age 19, Hokusai joined the studio of ukiyoe artist Katsukawa Shunshō and embarked on what would become a seven-decade-long career in art.

Hokusai was never in one place for long. He found cleaning distasteful—instead, he allowed dirt and grime to build up in his studio until the place became unbearable and then simply moved out. The artist changed residences 93 times throughout his life. Hokusai also had difficulty settling on a single moniker.

Although changing one’s name was customary among Japanese artists at this time, Hokusai took the practice even further with a new noms d’artiste roughly each decade. Together with his numerous informal pseudonyms, the printmaker claimed more than 30 names in total. His tombstone bears his final name, Gakyo Rojin Manji, which translates to “Old Man Mad about Painting.”

Hokusai was also a savvy self-promoter, creating massive paintings in public with the help of his students. At a festival in Edo in 1804, he painted a 180-meter-long portrait of a Buddhist monk using a broom as a brush. Years later, he publicized his best-selling series of sketchbooks with a three-story-high work depicting the founder of Zen Buddhism. Hokusai was one of the 19th century’s leading designers of toy prints—sheets of paper meant to be cut into pieces and then assembled into three-dimensional dioramas. He also made several board games, one of which depicted a pilgrim’s route between Edo and nearby religious sites. Consisting of several small landscape designs, it probably served as a precursor for his eventual masterpiece, the series “Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji” (ca. 1830-32). He illustrated countless books of poetry and fiction, and even published his own how-to manuals for aspiring artists. One of these guides, titled Hokusai Manga (1814-19) and filled with drawings he originally made for his students to copy, became a best-seller that gave the artist his first taste of fame.

Although Hokusai was prosperous in middle age, a series of setbacks—intermittent paralysis, the death of his second wife, and serious misconduct by his wayward grandson—left him in financial straits in his later years. In response, the elderly artist funneled his energy into his work, beginning his famous series “Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji” (which included The Great Wave) in 1830.

Another catalyst for the iconic set of images was the introduction of Prussian blue to the market. As a synthetic pigment, it lowered the price enough that it became feasible to use the shade in prints for the first time. Although The Great Wave made his name monumental, he was already a famous artist by this time, in his seventies. His publisher of the 36 Views of Mt Fuji was Eijudö.

This number is due in part to the exceptional length of his career, which officially began in 1779 and lasted until his death in 1849 at the age of 89. Hokusai was also intensely productive, rising with the sun and painting late into the night. Although a fire in his studio destroyed much of his work in 1839, he is thought to have produced some 30,000 paintings, sketches, woodblock prints, and picture books in total. His last words were said to have been a request for five or 10 more years in which to paint.

Above a print of Hokusai painting the Great Daruma in 1817.

During Hokusai’s life, the Japanese government enforced isolationist policies that prevented foreigners from entering and citizens from leaving. However, that didn’t stop his work from influencing some of the biggest names in Western art history. When Japan opened its borders in the 1850s, Hokusai’s work crossed continents to land in the hands of artists such as Claude Monet, who acquired 23 of the Japanese artist’s prints. Edgar Degas also took cues from Hokusai, in particular his thousands of sketches of the human form. The rapid embrace of his prints by European artists may have been in part due to his use of a Westernstyle vanishing point perspective. Other print designers in Japan employed the Asian perspective, which positioned far-away objects higher on the picture plane, an effect that, to a Western eye, made it appear as though the ground was tilting upwards.

The mark of Eijudö, the publishers of the series 36 Views of Mt Fuji is often found in the prints – humorously placed on saddle bags etc. A rare print of the first owner, Nishimuraya Yohachi I, on his seventyfirst birthday can be seen at the Honolulu Museum of Art, which has a large collection of Hokusai’s work.

Shogun Yoshimitsu, 1408

Japanese Historical Periods

Shōwa (1926-1989): This lengthy reign covered a period of almost un-imaginable change in Japan. At the start of it, while urban Japan had absorbed some Western influences, the country-side had changed little from centuries before; at the end of it, after the calamity of World War II, and the rebuilding of Japan, Japan was a fully integrated part of the modern world, and its people had a very different outlook on life.

Taisho (1912-1926): During this period, while the modernization and industrialization of Japan proceeded, the Japanese became convinced that Japanese culture could be preserved, while incorporating the best of Western ideas and technology.

Meiji (1868-1912): After the arrival of U.S. ships demanding the opening of Japan, in 1854, the power of the Shoguns, hollowed out over the centuries, fell in the Meiji Restoration of November, 1867. The Imperial system was restored, in league with a massive effort to modernize the country, during which the old feudal Japan all but disappeared almost overnight.

Edo (1615-1867): The Tokugawa family of Shoguns kept an iron grip on the country, and tried to keep out foreign influences, and freeze the feudal social structure, but under the surface slow change occurred, with the declining influence of the samurai and the rise of chonin. In the peace, a thriving popular culture grew up, with theatre, woodblock prints, and other popular art forms.

Momoyama (1568-1615): Three successive warlords, Odo Nobunaga (assasinated 1582), Toyotomi Hideyoshi (died 1598) and Tokugawa Ieyasu (died 1616) re-unified the country, ending with the Tokugawa victory over the forces of Hideyoshi's successors at Osaka in 1615. Zen arts such as the tea ceremony, sumi-e (ink-painting) and garden design became popular.

Muromachi (1333-1568): The Kamakura Shogunate, weakened by the invasion of the Mongols, fell to a restored Imperial rule; eventually, the Ashikaga family, a branch of the Minamoto, took over and established another Shogunate, although it was never as powerful as the preceding one. Feuding led to the creation of two competing Imperial courts (1336-1392), and later the internecine Onin Wars (1467-1477); these were followed by the even more devastating wars of the Sengoku Period (1477-1573). Toward the end of this period, the first Europeans arrived, and introduced Christianity.

Kamakura (1185-1333): A struggle for power between the two chief clans, the Taira and the Minamoto, ended with the victory of the Minamoto. They made their capital at Kamakura (on the coast of Sagami Bay, immediately to the south-west of Tōkyō Bay), and introduced the office of Shogun. However, power soon fell into the hands of the Hōjō clan, a branch of the Taira who had allied themselves with the Minamoto. Two attempted invasions by the Mongols were driven off; Zen Buddhism appeared in Japan, as well as tea-drinking.

Heian (794-1185): The indigenous Japanese culture reappeared, whilst on the political scene, the Emperors, now living in Heian-Kyō (now known as Kyōto) became cloistered figureheads, and the court turned to refinement and sophistication; the aristocratic Fujiwara clan ran the country.

Nara (710-794): Veneration of the Guatama Buddha was the lodestar of Japanese culture, and imitation of the Chinese was rampant, including the capital city of Japan at Nara, south of Kyōto, modeled after the Chinese capital of T'ang China, Sian.

Asuka (552-710): During this period, Chinese influences appeared in Japan, a written language based heavily on Chinese started to appear, and the first organized states appeared in Japan, with their capital in the Asuka valley.

Land and navy battle of Hokadate ca 1880, unknown artist

Edo Period 1615-1868

Japan’s Edo period dates from 1615, when Tokugawa Ieyasu defeated his enemies at Osaka Castle, to 1868, when the Shogun’s government collapsed and the Meiji emperor was reinstated as Japan’s main figurehead. This 250-year period takes its name from the city of Edo that started out as a small castle town and grew into one of the largest cities of the modern world, now called Tokyo. Much of this tremendous growth happened during the Edo period. The Edo period is also known as the Tokugawa period, named for the ruling family of Tokugawa.

The Edo period was the first stretch of prolonged peace in Japan since the Heian period (794– 1156). This meant that the Japanese could again pursue a better standard of living. Although there were occasional natural and economic disasters that disrupted life, the period is one of agricultural development, urbanization, increased education and literacy, commercial prosperity, and a flowering of artistic production.

Prior to Edo, Japan suffered more than a century of civil war (1467–1568) known as the Sengoku period (“country at war”) with regional warlords battling each other for supremacy. From about 1560–1590, the various domains were united through the efforts of two powerful daimyo (regional rulers), Oda Nobunaga (1534–82) and Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536–98) (see image above).

After Nobunaga was assassinated in 1582, Hideyoshi strove to consolidate control and stability, and secure his own succession.

However, his failed attempts to invade Korea in 1592–1598 dwindled his resources. His son was too young to succeed him when he died of illness in 1598. At this point, Hideyoshi’s former allies competed for leadership. Tokugawa Ieyasu (controlled a network of daimyo (regional lords), who in turn ruled relatively autonomously over their respective domains that had been granted by the Shogun. Mindful of the civil wars that immediately preceded Edo unification, the bakufu instituted restrictive laws to ensure control. To keep the daimyo in check the Shogun required them to rotate their residence, spending alternate years at home and in Edo. Their families lived in Edo year-round as virtual hostages.

Should the daimyo attempt to go against the shogunate, their lives would be in peril. The domains of formerly allied daimyo might be moved to distant areas to keep them from plotting against other daimyo or the Shogun. In addition to controlling activities within the country, the Shogun expelled foreigners, virtually sealing Japan off from direct contact with the outside world.

Portuguese traders first arrived in Japan in 1543, marking the beginning of a period of nearly 100 years of contact between Japanese and Europeans, many of whom were Christian missionaries. The first to arrive were traders, who brought firearms that transformed methods of warfare in Japan tipping the scales in favor of the daimyo who quickly mastered this new technology. Later visitors included missionaries, such as the now-sainted Francis Xavier, who arrived in 1549 as a passenger on a Chinese boat.

Many of the missionaries were aggressive converters, bringing several daimyo and thousands of commoners into the faith.

The Christians angered the shogunate when they involved themselves in political conflicts, posing a real threat to the Shogun’s control. In 1614 an official judgment on the subversiveness of Christianity was published stating that Christians were trying to take over Japan, and that their religion taught them to: “contravene governmental regulations, traduce Shinto, calumniate the True Law [Buddhism], destroy righteousness, corrupt goodness”—in short, to subvert the native Japanese, the Buddhist, and the Confucian foundations of the social order.

The Shogun banned Christianity, expelled missionaries from the country, and began to persecute those who had converted and refused to renounce the faith.