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Utagawa Kunisada(ToyokuniⅢ) Production date:1852 (Kaei 5) In this series, linking the stories and customs of the post stations, popular actors of the time are illustrated with the background of the famous places. Naozane has a link with Fujieda City, and since Yoshitsune was the master of Naozane in the joruri play of “Ichi-no-tani Futaba Gunki (The War Chronicle of the Battle of Ichi-no-tani”), Yoshitsune was illustrated in the picture. This work is from the series “Actors Assorted in Fifty-three Stations of the Toukaidou ”. Right now 140 works of this series are found . The artist Toyokuni III is one of the most popular ukiyo-e artists. The landscape of the post station is illustrated at the background, and a figure in front is a character of kabuki play who has a connection to the post station. Also, the figure’s portrait is based on a famous kabuki actor. Utagawa Kunisada (Utagawa Toyokuni III) Tenmei 6~Genji 1 (1786~1864) Kunisada had a long career started from Bunka 4 (1807) till his death, became the most popular and successful ukiyo-e artist of that time. In the late Edo period, Kunisada’s reputation was far exceeded that of his contemporaries, more highly regarded than even Hokusai or Hiroshige. He was the most productive ukiyo-e artist and produced every genre of ukiyo-e. The pictures of beauties with his characteristic depictions of hunched back and short neck women were the dist inctive features of Kunisada’s style and a famous example was the picture of “Fraudulent Murasaki’s Bumpkin Genji”.

Utagawa Kunisada(ToyokuniⅢ) Production date:1852 (Kaei 5) In this series, linking the stories and customs of the post stations, popular actors of the time are illustrated with the background of the famous places. Satou Tadanobu is a fox yearns for his mother and adopts the appearance of human figure in the joruri play “Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura (Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees)”. He protects Shizuka Gozen, who has the drum made by his mother’s skin. Since the word “ofukuro” means mother in Japanese, and it has a similar sound to “Fukuroi”, Tadanobu was associated with this picutre. This work is from the series “Actors Assorted in Fifty-three Stations of the Toukaidou ”. Right now 140 works of this series are found . The artist Toyokuni III is one of the most popular ukiyo-e artists. The landscape of the post station is illustrated at the background, and a figure in front is a character of kabuki play who has a connection to the post station. Also, the figure’s portrait is based on a famous kabuki actor. Utagawa Kunisada (Utagawa Toyokuni III) Tenmei 6~Genji 1 (1786~1864) Kunisada had a long career started from Bunka 4 (1807) till his death, became the most popular and successful ukiyo-e artist of that time. In the late Edo period, Kunisada’s reputation was far exceeded that of his contemporaries, more highly regarded than even Hokusai or Hiroshige. He was the most productive ukiyo-e artist and produced every genre of ukiyo-e. The pictures of beauties with his characteristic depictions of hunched back and short neck women were the dist inctive features of Kunisada’s style and a famous example was the picture of “Fraudulent Murasaki’s Bumpkin Genji”.

Utagawa Kunisada(ToyokuniⅢ) Production date:1852 (Kaei 5) In this series, linking the stories and customs of the post stations, popular actors of the time are illustrated with the background of the famous places. Mistuke was the post station located next to the Fukuroi Station, and Shizuka Gozen, who has a link with Tadanobu is illustrated. This work is from the series “Actors Assorted in Fifty-three Stations of the Toukaidou ”. Right now 140 works of this series are found . The artist Toyokuni III is one of the most popular ukiyo-e artists. The landscape of the post station is illustrated at the background, and a figure in front is a character of kabuki play who has a connection to the post station. Also, the figure’s portrait is based on a famous kabuki actor. Utagawa Kunisada (Utagawa Toyokuni III) Tenmei 6~Genji 1 (1786~1864) Kunisada had a long career started from Bunka 4 (1807) till his death, became the most popular and successful ukiyo-e artist of that time. In the late Edo period, Kunisada’s reputation was far exceeded that of his contemporaries, more highly regarded than even Hokusai or Hiroshige. He was the most productive ukiyo-e artist and produced every genre of ukiyo-e. The pictures of beauties with his characteristic depictions of hunched back and short neck women were the dist inctive features of Kunisada’s style and a famous example was the picture of “Fraudulent Murasaki’s Bumpkin Genji”.

Artist unknown The story “The Tunnel of Mt. Fuji” became a kabuki play, “Meiji-za Shin-Kyougen (The new Meiji period style kabuki drama performed at Meiji-za Theatre”. The picture illustrated by Utagawa Yoshikazu recreates the scene in the play in a form of kumiage-e, the illustrated paper diorama. Kumiage-e (literary means “building up a picture”) was sometimes called kumiage-dourou (building up a lantern), which is a type of “omocha-e”, a toy ukiyo-e picture and it was very popular during the Edo to Meiji period. Kumiage-e was a paper craft enjoyed by cutting out the picture and making three-dimensional diorama.

Utagawa Kunihisa Ⅱ 1859 (Ansei 6) The event of “The Great Hunt at the Foot of Mt. Fuji” by the general Minamoto-no-Yoritomo, is also recorded in “Azuma-Kagami” a historical texts of Kamakura period. The event of makigari or large scale hunting is not just to hunt animals for pleasure, but one of the aims was to announce and display the power and status of Yoritomo as a great general. Also the systematic hunting was practically functioned as a military maneuver as well. This “Picture of the Great Hunt” illustrated by Kunihisa, Nitta Shirou Tadatsune’s boars hunting is especially emphasized. This image of courageous Nitta Shirou would later be connected to the story of his adventure of going into the tunnel at Mt. Fuji.

Utagawa Kunisada(ToyokuniⅢ) 1852（kaei5） In this sugoroku board game, each post station of the Toukaidou is allotted to each space. The pictures are taken from the series “Fifty-three Stations of the Toukaidou with Actors” and it is illustrated in a reduced size. The same designs of the original pictures are reproduced that even the fine hairline depiction of the original picture is curved carefully as to reproduce the original quality. The figures illustrated at the center, the goal of this game Kyoto, are Ishikawa Goemon and Mashiba Shisayoshi (This name suggest a historical figure Hashiba Hideyoshi) from a kabuki play “San-mon Gosan no Kiri (The Temple Gate and Paulownia Crest). This play is known with a character Goemon’s famous line “Zekkei-kana, Zekkei-kana (What an outstanding view! What a view!)”. Goemon says this famous speech when he looks at the great view of the blooming cherry blossom flowers from the gate of Nanzen-ji Temple.