Fujikawa Tamenobu 53 Stations of the Tokaido Shank´s Mare

By Cristina Berna and Eric Thomsen

The reader may already be acquainted with Hiroshige´s  Hoeidō series (1833-34) of The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō, author's ISBN 978-1-956215-09-0. This was the most popular print series ever made in Japan.

In this Tōkaidō series we follow the two scoundrels Yaji and Kita on their pilgrimage to the Grand Shrines of Ise and later travelling to Kyoto and Osaka, in the 60 prints by Fujikawa Tamenobu based on the 1802 novel by Ikku Jippensha.

Fujikawa Tamenobu's 60 prints from 1890 are broadly based on Hiroshige's Tōkaidō landscape series but also draw from the old master Hokusai's humorous Tōkaidō series from 1802 through 1806. The reader experiences the same journey and can compare to the Hoeidō series.

It is possible to travel the same road today and some villages are still looking quite like they did back then. The postal stations were constructed between 1601 and 1624. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Missys Clan
• Release date: Apr 16, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223285922

Cristina Berna

Cristina Berna liebt das Fotografieren und Schreiben. Sie schreibt, um ein vielfältiges Publikum zu unterhalten.

Book preview

Fujikawa Tamenobu

53 Stations of the Tōkaidō Shank’s Mare

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Cristina Berna and Eric Thomsen

2023

Copyright

Fujikawa Tamenobu

53 Stations of the Tōkaidō Shank’s Mare

Cristina Berna and Eric Thomsen  

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Copyright ©2021, 2023 by Cristina Berna and Eric Thomsen

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

The pictures of the prints are in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or less. This book is void of sale where disallowed.

This title is available as full collor print book

ISBN 978-1-956215-73-1 Hardcover

ISBN 978-1-956215-04-5 Paperback

About the authors

Cristina Berna loves photographing and writing. She also creates designs and advice on fashion and styling.

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

Also by the authors:

World of Cakes

Luxembourg – a piece of cake

Florida Cakes

Catalan Pastis – Catalonian Cakes

Andalucian Delight

World of Art

Hokusai – 36 Views of Mt Fuji

Hiroshige 69 Stations of the Nakasendō

Hiroshige 53 Stations of the Tōkaidō

Hiroshige 100 Famous Views of Edo

Hiroshige Famous Vies of the Sixty-Odd Provinces

Hiroshige 36 Views of Mt Fuji 1852

Hiroshige 36 Views of Mt Fuji 1858

Joaquin Sorolla Landscapes

Joaquin Sorolla Beach

Joaquin Sorolla Boats

Joaquin Sorolla Animals

Joaquin Sorolla Family

Joaquin Sorolla Nudes

Joaquin Sorolla Portraits

and other titles

Outpets

Deer in Dyrehaven – Outpets in Denmark

Florida Outpets

Birds of Play

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Christmas

Christmas Nativity – Spain

Christmas Nativities Luxembourg Trier

Christmas Nativity Hallstatt

Christmas Nativity Salzburg

Christmas Nativity Slovenia

Christmas Market Innsbruck

Christmas Market Vienna

Christmas Market Salzburg

Christmas Market Slovenia

Christmas Market Luxembourg

Christmas Market Trier

Christmas Market Strasbourg

Christmas Market Malaga

Christmas Market Copenhagen

and other titles

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Missy’s Clan

Missy’s Clan – The Beginning

Missy’s Clan – Christmas

Missy’s Clan – Education

Missy’s Clan – Kittens

Missy’s Clan – Outpets

Missy’s Clan – Outpet Birds

and other titles

Vehicles

Copenhagen vehicles – and a trip to Sweden

Construction vehicles picture book

Trains

Contact the authors

[e-mail] 

Published by www.missysclan.net  

Cover picture:

Print no 54, 50th station Minakuchi

Inside:

Print no 60 Tenno-ji Temple, Osaka (detail) 

Introduction

The reader may already be acquainted with Hiroshige´s  Hoeidō series (1833-34) of The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō, author’s ISBN 978-1-956215-09-0. This was the most popular print series ever made in Japan.

In this Tōkaidō series we follow the two scoundrels Yaji and Kita on their pilgrimage to the Grand Shrines of Ise and later travelling to Kyoto and Osaka, in the 60 prints by Fujikawa Tamenobu based on the 1802 novel by Ikku Jippensha.

Fujikawa Tamenobu’s 60 prints from 1890 are broadly based on Hiroshige’s Tōkaidō landscape series but also draw from the old master Hokusai’s humorous Tōkaidō series from 1802 through 1806. The reader experiences the same journey and can compare to the Hoeidō series.

It is possible to travel the same road today and some villages are still looking quite like they did back then. The postal stations were constructed between 1601 and 1624. 

Cristina and Eric

Fujikawa Tamenobu

Tamenobu Fujikawa (active c. 1890 - 1910) was a woodblock artist working at the turn of the 20th century. Little is known about this Meiji-period artist. He is best known for a series of prints depicting the travels of Yajirobe and Kitahachi, the popular protagonists of Ikku Jippensha's Tokaidochu Hizakurige (know in English as Shanks’ Mare), the object of this volume.

Yaji and Kita

F:\Shanks Mare\Yaji and Kita.jpg

Fujikawa Tamenobu: Print no 1: Yaji (in green kimono) and Kita (in chequered kimono), 1890, horizontal aiban, 332x227 mm plus margin.

The famous tale was originally released in two volumes in 1802 and 1822 respectively. The original volumes follows these comic heroes as they journey from Edo to Kyoto along the Tokaido road. In the original, Yaji and Kita go along the Tókaidó on a pilgrimage to the Grand Shrines at Ise, turning of the main road after Yokkaichi to go South. After visiting the shrines they attempt to go to Osaka by boat on the River Yodo, but instead end up in Kyoto first. Having seen and experienced the imperial capital they then sail down to Osaka where they have new adventures.

Fujikawa Tamenobu departs from the original story to show the full trip as on the Tókaidó and produced 60 prints and text in a bound album.

The album can be seen on this link:

Dōchū hizakurige. 道中膝栗毛. Selections. (dartmouth.edu)

According to the information the print series was issued abt 1890 as horizontal aiban, 332x227 mm, plus margin.

The authors support this with the prints from Hiroshige’s first Tókaidó, the Hoeidō or Great Tókaidó from 1833-1834 and information about the stations to give a broad context.

Jippensha Ikku

Jippensha (十返舎 一九, 1765 – September 12, 1831) was the pen name of Shigeta Sadakazu (重田 貞一), a Japanese writer active during the late Edo period of Japan. He lived primarily in Edo in the service of samurai, but also spent some time in Osaka as a townsman. He was among the most prolific yellow-backed novel (黄表紙, kibyōshi) writers of the late Edo period — between 1795 and 1801 he wrote a minimum of twenty novels a year, and thereafter wrote sharebon (洒落本), kokkeibon (滑稽本) and over 360 illustrated stories, (gōkan [ja], 合巻 ).

Little is known of Jippensha Ikku's adult life. He was married three times, two of which were quickly ended by fathers-in-law who could not understand his literary habits.

The following anecdotes are told about him. He accepted poverty with good humor and, having no furniture, hung his bare walls with paintings of the furniture he might have had. On holidays he sacrificed to the gods with pictures of excellent offerings. Being presented with a bathtub in the common interest, he carried it home inverted on his head, and overthrew with ready wit the

Portrait of Jippensha Ikku

Jippensha Ikku (十返舎 一九) was a Japanese writer in the late Edo period. Image: Hannah~commonswiki

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pedestrians who fell his way. When his publisher came to see him, Jippensha invited him to take a bath. While his invitation was being accepted he decked himself in the publisher's clothes and paid his New Year's Day calls in proper ceremonial costume. These anecdotes are now widely regarded as apocryphal. The most reliable sources cite Jippensha as being surly and unpleasant in person.

His masterpiece, Tōkaidōchū Hizakurige, was published in twelve parts between 1802 and 1822. Aston calls it the most humorous and entertaining book in the Japanese language.

In 1831, Jippensha became paralyzed. On his deathbed, Jippensha is said to have enjoined his pupils to place upon his corpse, before his cremation, certain packets which he solemnly entrusted to them. He died on August 7 of that year. At his funeral, prayers having been said, the pyre was lighted, whereupon it turned out that the packets were full of firecrackers, which exploded merrily. Jippensha had kept his youthful promise that his life would be full of surprises, even after his death. As above, this tale is most likely not true.

His ashes were buried in Asakusa in Tokyo at the Zenryu temple. This fact needs verification as his grave is marked on Japanese maps as being located in Kachidoki, Chuo-ku, Tokyo at 35°39'25.6N 139°46'29.1E

Hizakurige or Shank's Mare: Japan's Great Comic Novel of Travel and Ribaldry by Ikku Jippensha. Translated by Thomas Satchell. Rutland, Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle Company. 1960. ISBN 0-8048-0524-5

Footing It Along the Tōkaidō (東海道中膝栗毛, tōkaidōchū hizakurige).

A 1907 version of the original book Tokaidochu hizakurige can be seen at this link:

Tokaidochu hizakurige : Jippensha, Ikku, 1765-1831 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Tōkaidōchū Hizakurige (東海道中膝栗毛), abbreviated as Hizakurige and known in translation as Shank's Mare, is a comic picaresque novel (kokkeibon) written by Jippensha Ikku (十返舎一九, 1765–1831) about the misadventures of two travellers on the Tōkaidō, the main road between Kyoto and Edo during the Edo period. The book was published in twelve parts between 1802 and 1822.

The two main characters, traveling from Edo to Kyoto on their pilgrimage to Ise Grand Shrine, are called Yajirobē (彌次郎兵衛) and Kitahachi (喜多八). The book, while written in a comical style, was written as a traveller's guide to the Tōkaidō Road. It details famous landmarks at each of the 53 post towns along the road, where the characters, often called Yaji and Kita, frequently find themselves in hilarious situations. They travel from station to station, predominantly interested in food, sake, and women. As Edo men, they view the world through an Edo lens, deeming themselves more cultured and savvy in comparison to the countrymen they meet.

Hizakurige is a comic novel that also provides information and anecdotes regarding various regions along the Tōkaidō. Tourism was booming during the Edo Period, when this was written. This work is one of many guidebooks that proliferated, to whet the public's appetite for sight-seeing.

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As Yaji and Kita make their way, they leave behind a trail of crude jokes and plentiful puns. They make fun of a daimyō procession, cheat shopkeepers out of money, and get cheated in turn. At one inn, they make fools of themselves because they do not know how to use the bathtub; they burn themselves on the bottom, rather than asking for help.

In Ueno, one of them pretends to be Ikku himself, before he is found to be an impostor. On that occasion, they burn themselves and debate how to eat the hot stones that they have been served by the innkeeper. They are soon revealed as fools: The stones are for drying out the konjac to improve the flavor, not for eating.

Comic events often ensue when Yaji or Kita try to sneak into bed with women, which happens at various inns along the road.

Some of the episodes from this novel have been illustrated by famous ukiyo-e artists, such as Hiroshige in his One Hundred Views of Edo, Hiroshige in print no 34 Futakawa in 53 Pairings of theTōkaidō and Kunisada.

Hatchôbori: Actor Ichikawa Danzô as Yajirobei

https://data.ukiyo-e.org/mfa/images/sc172477.jpg

Utagawa Kunisada: Hatchôbori: Actor Ichikawa Danzô as Yajirobei, from the series Flowers of Edo and Views of Famous Places (Edo no hana meishô-e), 1863, vertical ôban; 35.8 x 24.8 cm (14 1/8 x 9 3/4 in.), MFA

A second book was also written, called Zoku Hizakurige, which includes material on the Kiso Valley, Konpira, and Miyajima.

Film versions

Yaji and Kita: Yasuda's Rescue, 1927 film version

Yaji and Kita: The Battle of Toba Fushimi, 1928 film version

Travel Chronicles of Yaji and Kita, 1956 film version

Yaji and Kita: The Midnight Pilgrims (2005)

Yaji Kita dōchū Teresuko (Three for the Road) (2007) starring Akira Emoto, Kyōko Koizumi, Nakamura Kanzaburō XVIII and a Japanese raccoon dog.

Sources

Jippensha Ikku, Hizakurige or Shanks' Mare, trans. Thomas Satchell (Charles E. Tuttle Company, Inc., 1960). ASIN: B0007J7ITK.

Jippensha Ikku, Travels on the Eastern Seaboard (Tōkaidōchū Hizakurige), in Haruo Shirane, ed., Early Modern Japanese Literature: An Anthology, 1600–1900 (Columbia University Press, 2002), pp. 732–747. ISBN 0-231-14415-6.

Utagawa Hiroshige

Utagawa Hiroshige (in Japanese: 歌川 広重), also called Andō Hiroshige (in Japanese: 安藤 広重;), was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist, considered the last great master of that tradition. He was born 1797 and died 12 October 1858.

Ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese art which flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock prints and paintings of such subjects as female beauties; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes from history and folk tales; travel scenes and landscapes; flora and fauna; and erotica. The term ukiyo-e (浮世絵) translates as "picture[s] of the floating world".

Hiroshige is best known for his horizontal-format landscape series The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō, which is the subject of this book, and for his vertical-format landscape series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo.

The main subjects of his work are considered atypical of the ukiyo-e genre, whose focus was more on beautiful women, popular actors, and other scenes of the urban pleasure districts of Japan's Edo period (1603–1868).

The Edo period was a period with strong feudal control by the Tokugawa shogunate, with stability and economic growth, very closed to outside influence, although methods were imported and applied and a flowering cultural and artistic life.

The popular series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji by Hokusai (ISBN 978-1-956215-24-3) was a strong influence on Hiroshige's choice of subject. Hiroshige's approach is more poetic and ambient, much more detailed, than Hokusai's bolder, more formal and focused prints.

Where Hokusai gives you an immediate experience just from looking at his prints, with Hiroshige you have to look more carefully, devote more time, to decipher the details and the meaning.

Subtle use of color was essential in Hiroshige's prints, often printed with multiple impressions in the same area and with extensive use of bokashi (color gradation), both of which were rather labor-intensive techniques.

Futami Bay in Ise Province

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cb/Hiroshige%2C_Futamigaura_in_Ise_Province%2C_1858.jpg/229px-Hiroshige%2C_Futamigaura_in_Ise_Province%2C_1858.jpg

Print 27: Futami Bay in Ise Province, Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji 1858 ISBN 978-1-956215-23-6

For scholars and collectors, Hiroshige's death marked the beginning of a rapid decline in the ukiyo-e genre, especially in the face of the Westernization that followed the Meiji Restoration of 1868.

The Meiji Restoration followed in 1868 after Commodore Matthew C Perry had forced Japan to open its ports to foreign in 1863. It meant an end to the shogunate, the feudal ruling system, restored the powers to the emperor who centralized government and industrialization.

Hiroshige's work came to have a marked influence on Western painting towards the close of the 19th century as a part of the trend in Japonism.

Western artists, such as Manet and Monet, collected and closely studied Hiroshige's compositions. Vincent van Gogh even went so far as to paint copies of two of Hiroshige's prints from One Hundred Famous Views of Edo.

Hiroshige was born in 1797 in the Yayosu Quay section of the Yaesu area in Edo (modern Tokyo). He was of a samurai background, and is the great-grandson of Tanaka Tokuemon, who held a position of power under the Tsugaru clan in the northern province of Mutsu.

Wind Blown Grass Across the Moon

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/69/Brooklyn_Museum_-_Wind_Blown_Grass_Across_the_Moon_-_Utagawa_Hiroshige_%28Ando%29.jpg/220px-Brooklyn_Museum_-_Wind_Blown_Grass_Across_the_Moon_-_Utagawa_Hiroshige_%28Ando%29.jpg

Wind Blown Grass Across the Moon – by Hiroshige

Hiroshige studied under Toyohiro of the Utagawa school of artists. Hiroshige's grandfather, Mitsuemon, was an archery instructor who worked under the name Sairyūken.

Returning Sails at Tsukuda

Returning Sails at Tsukuda, from Eight Views of Edo, Utagawa Toyohiro between 1802 and 1828, Brooklyn Museum online, image: Opencooper

Hiroshige's father, Gen'emon, was adopted into the family of Andō Jūemon, whom he succeeded as fire warden for the Yayosu Quay area.

Hiroshige went through several name changes as a youth: Jūemon, Tokubē, and Tetsuzō. He had three sisters, one of whom died when he was three. His mother died in early 1809, and