Utagawa Yoshikazu The production date: 1853 (Kaei 6) The print for Sakanoshita is the scene in which the bottom falls out of a wood-fired bathing tub in the Yaji and Kita on the Road comedy. In Jippensha Ikku's Shank’s Mare Tour of the Toukaidou Highway, the same scene is set at Odawara Station. Minakuchi was famous for its kanpyo (dried strips of gourd). White gourd strips are hanging out to dry on a fence before a house. The man leading the horse is astounded at the big object in the form of a face. This is actually the fruit of the calabash (whose Japanese name translates “moon-face”). Kanpyo was made by peeling off strips of calabash. Many Utagawa school ukiyo-e artists published the series “Fifty-three Stations of the Toukaidou Highway”. In this distinctive series, Yoshikazu introduced the legends and episodes that related to the post stations of the Toukaidou Highway humorously. Generally, he produced humorous pictures with horizontal small ko-ban size format. Utagawa Yoshikazu Date of birth and death unknown Yoshikazu was a pupil of Utagawa Kuniyoshi and active from the Kaei era till Meiji 3 (1848~1870). He also used the artist names such as Shunsai and Ichikawa. He produced many worrier pictures, kacho-ga (pictures of birds and flowers), and Yokohama-e (ukiyo-e depicting foreigner’s life styles or the scenes of Yokohama). He also produced illustrations of kusa-zoshi (books with illustrations ).

Utagawa Yoshikazu The production date: 1853 (Kaei 6) The Tsuchiyama Station print is a picture of a teahouse interior. The two guests sitting on the bench are surprised when a woman wearing heavy make-up comes to offer them tea. Her kimono has a pattern of a bull's eye arrow, which stands for yaba (“arrow-place”), an argot term for brothels. Ishibe calls to mind the story of the love-suicide by Choemon, the proprietor of a kimono sash store, and Ohan, the daughter of the owner of the Shinanoya store next door, in the joruri (puppet-theater) play of Chikamatsu titled Katsuragawa Renri no Shigarami. It was famous as the location of the inn where the two first met when staying there. The pair in the print could be Ohan and Choemon. Many Utagawa school ukiyo-e artists published the series “Fifty-three Stations of the Toukaidou Highway”. In this distinctive series, Yoshikazu introduced the legends and episodes that related to the post stations of the Toukaidou Highway humorously. Generally, he produced humorous pictures with horizontal small ko-ban size format. Utagawa Yoshikazu Date of birth and death unknown Yoshikazu was a pupil of Utagawa Kuniyoshi and active from the Kaei era till Meiji 3 (1848~1870). He also used the artist names such as Shunsai and Ichikawa. He produced many worrier pictures, kacho-ga (pictures of birds and flowers), and Yokohama-e (ukiyo-e depicting foreigner’s life styles or the scenes of Yokohama). He also produced illustrations of kusa-zoshi (books with illustrations ).

Utagawa Yoshikazu The production date: 1853 (Kaei 6) The print for Sakanoshita is the scene in which the bottom falls out of a wood-fired bathing tub in the Yaji and Kita on the Road comedy. In Jippensha Ikku's Shank’s Mare Tour of the Toukaidou Highway, the same scene is set at Odawara Station. Minakuchi was famous for its kanpyo (dried strips of gourd). White gourd strips are hanging out to dry on a fence before a house. The man leading the horse is astounded at the big object in the form of a face. This is actually the fruit of the calabash (whose Japanese name translates “moon-face”). Kanpyo was made by peeling off strips of calabash. Many Utagawa school ukiyo-e artists published the series “Fifty-three Stations of the Toukaidou Highway”. In this distinctive series, Yoshikazu introduced the legends and episodes that related to the post stations of the Toukaidou Highway humorously. Generally, he produced humorous pictures with horizontal small ko-ban size format. Utagawa Yoshikazu Date of birth and death unknown Yoshikazu was a pupil of Utagawa Kuniyoshi and active from the Kaei era till Meiji 3 (1848~1870). He also used the artist names such as Shunsai and Ichikawa. He produced many worrier pictures, kacho-ga (pictures of birds and flowers), and Yokohama-e (ukiyo-e depicting foreigner’s life styles or the scenes of Yokohama). He also produced illustrations of kusa-zoshi (books with illustrations ).

Utagawa Yoshikazu The production date: 1853 (Kaei 6) The print for Shono portrays two women carrying baskets. A large number of white mushrooms are growing under a pine tree, and could be parodying the hakuu (literally “white rain,” meaning a sudden shower) noted on the print for Kameyama in the Hoeido edition of Hiroshige's Toukaidou series. The statue of the bodhisattva Jizo (Ksitigarbha) in Seki was said to be oldest one in Japan. Wearing an expression of blissful contentment, it attracted the devotion of people traveling the Toukaidou from early times. A popular song suggested putting a long-sleeved kimono on the Jizo of Seki and make the Great Buddha of Nara a groom. Many Utagawa school ukiyo-e artists published the series “Fifty-three Stations of the Toukaidou Highway”. In this distinctive series, Yoshikazu introduced the legends and episodes that related to the post stations of the Toukaidou Highway humorously. Generally, he produced humorous pictures with horizontal small ko-ban size format. Utagawa Yoshikazu Date of birth and death unknown Yoshikazu was a pupil of Utagawa Kuniyoshi and active from the Kaei era till Meiji 3 (1848~1870). He also used the artist names such as Shunsai and Ichikawa. He produced many worrier pictures, kacho-ga (pictures of birds and flowers), and Yokohama-e (ukiyo-e depicting foreigner’s life styles or the scenes of Yokohama). He also produced illustrations of kusa-zoshi (books with illustrations ).

Utagawa Yoshikazu The production date: 1853 (Kaei 6) The name “Ishiyakushi” derives from statue of Yakushi (Bhaisajyaguru, the healing Buddha) carved out of stone (ishi) by the eminent monk Kukai. The print depicts not Kukai but a kanjin monk of the type who solicits contributions for religious purposes. At the vestibule of the inn, he has just handed one of the innkeeper women what looks to be a bundle of hemp, an amulet from the Ise Grand Shrine. In the Kameyama print, a man hiding behind a tree is scaring the travelers by manipulating a big puppet. The long neck suggests that the doll is meant to be taken for a rokuro-kubi, a monster that can lengthen and retract its neck at will. Many Utagawa school ukiyo-e artists published the series “Fifty-three Stations of the Toukaidou Highway”. In this distinctive series, Yoshikazu introduced the legends and episodes that related to the post stations of the Toukaidou Highway humorously. Generally, he produced humorous pictures with horizontal small ko-ban size format. Utagawa Yoshikazu Date of birth and death unknown Yoshikazu was a pupil of Utagawa Kuniyoshi and active from the Kaei era till Meiji 3 (1848~1870). He also used the artist names such as Shunsai and Ichikawa. He produced many worrier pictures, kacho-ga (pictures of birds and flowers), and Yokohama-e (ukiyo-e depicting foreigner’s life styles or the scenes of Yokohama). He also produced illustrations of kusa-zoshi (books with illustrations ).

Utagawa Yoshikazu The production date: 1853 (Kaei 6) The print for Shono portrays two women carrying baskets. A large number of white mushrooms are growing under a pine tree, and could be parodying the hakuu (literally “white rain,” meaning a sudden shower) noted on the print for Kameyama in the Hoeido edition of Hiroshige's Toukaidou series. The statue of the bodhisattva Jizo (Ksitigarbha) in Seki was said to be oldest one in Japan. Wearing an expression of blissful contentment, it attracted the devotion of people traveling the Toukaidou from early times. A popular song suggested putting a long-sleeved kimono on the Jizo of Seki and make the Great Buddha of Nara a groom. Many Utagawa school ukiyo-e artists published the series “Fifty-three Stations of the Toukaidou Highway”. In this distinctive series, Yoshikazu introduced the legends and episodes that related to the post stations of the Toukaidou Highway humorously. Generally, he produced humorous pictures with horizontal small ko-ban size format. Utagawa Yoshikazu Date of birth and death unknown Yoshikazu was a pupil of Utagawa Kuniyoshi and active from the Kaei era till Meiji 3 (1848~1870). He also used the artist names such as Shunsai and Ichikawa. He produced many worrier pictures, kacho-ga (pictures of birds and flowers), and Yokohama-e (ukiyo-e depicting foreigner’s life styles or the scenes of Yokohama). He also produced illustrations of kusa-zoshi (books with illustrations ).

Utagawa Yoshikazu The production date: 1853 (Kaei 6) The name “Ishiyakushi” derives from statue of Yakushi (Bhaisajyaguru, the healing Buddha) carved out of stone (ishi) by the eminent monk Kukai. The print depicts not Kukai but a kanjin monk of the type who solicits contributions for religious purposes. At the vestibule of the inn, he has just handed one of the innkeeper women what looks to be a bundle of hemp, an amulet from the Ise Grand Shrine. In the Kameyama print, a man hiding behind a tree is scaring the travelers by manipulating a big puppet. The long neck suggests that the doll is meant to be taken for a rokuro-kubi, a monster that can lengthen and retract its neck at will. Many Utagawa school ukiyo-e artists published the series “Fifty-three Stations of the Toukaidou Highway”. In this distinctive series, Yoshikazu introduced the legends and episodes that related to the post stations of the Toukaidou Highway humorously. Generally, he produced humorous pictures with horizontal small ko-ban size format. Utagawa Yoshikazu Date of birth and death unknown Yoshikazu was a pupil of Utagawa Kuniyoshi and active from the Kaei era till Meiji 3 (1848~1870). He also used the artist names such as Shunsai and Ichikawa. He produced many worrier pictures, kacho-ga (pictures of birds and flowers), and Yokohama-e (ukiyo-e depicting foreigner’s life styles or the scenes of Yokohama). He also produced illustrations of kusa-zoshi (books with illustrations ).

Utagawa Yoshikazu The production date: 1853 (Kaei 6) The very famous local product of Narumi post station was the shibori, or tie-dye textile of Arimatsu and Narumi. During the Edo period, almost the entire shibori (A special dyeing technique to produce patterns on kimono by tying threads around cloth.) in Japan were produced in this region. In this picture, a traveler is surprised by a dragon and an octopus pattern drawn on the yukata, a casual summer kimono. A local specialty of Kuwana post station is clam. In this picture, sparrows are about to hop out from clam shells. This scene visualizes the autumn’s kigo (a seasonal word used to construct Japanese poetries), and expresses the scene of “Sparrows turn into clams.” There was a superstitious belief that there are not many sparrows during cold autumn season since they turn into clams. As seen in this picture, people would be surprised if it actually happens in reality. Many Utagawa school ukiyo-e artists published the series “Fifty-three Stations of the Toukaidou Highway”. In this distinctive series, Yoshikazu introduced the legends and episodes that related to the post stations of the Toukaidou Highway humorously. Generally, he produced humorous pictures with horizontal small ko-ban size format. Utagawa Yoshikazu Date of birth and death unknown Yoshikazu was a pupil of Utagawa Kuniyoshi and active from the Kaei era till Meiji 3 (1848~1870). He also used the artist names such as Shunsai and Ichikawa. He produced many worrier pictures, kacho-ga (pictures of birds and flowers), and Yokohama-e (ukiyo-e depicting foreigner’s life styles or the scenes of Yokohama). He also produced illustrations of kusa-zoshi (books with illustrations ).