Utagawa Sadahide
1863
Description générale
Cette série du Toukaidou, connue sous le nom de « Jōraku Toukaidou », a été publiée en 1863 (Bunkyu 3) lors de la procession de Tōkyō à Kyōto du quatorzième shogun Tokugawa Iemochi. Chacune des estampes met en scène la procession d’un Daimyo (seigneur féodal) accompagné de ses samouraïs. C’est une vaste collection de 162 œuvres illustrant non seulement les stations relais de la route du Toukaidou, mais également les lieux célèbres se trouvant à proximité. Seize artistes populaires de l’époque, dont Toyokuni Utagawa III et Hiroshige Utagawa II, ont participé à la réalisation de cette série.
The Toukaidou: Fujisawa, Yugyouji Temple
In this picture, a party proceeding in front of the Yugyouji Temple is illustrated. Besides the title, the signs “The Direction for Edo” and “Kamakura Road” are indicated. In the wood beside the Yugyouji Temple, the signs ”Oguri Hall” and “The Grave of Ten Heroes of Oguri” based on the legendary tale of “Oguri-Hangan and Princess Terute” are illustrated. Below, at the right, beside the First Torii Gate to Enoshima, the indication of “Enoshima-michi (The Road to Enoshima Island)”is illustrated. As a master of bird’-eye view picture, Sadahide was conscious with the topographical contents of this land.
This series was published with the event of the Fourteenth Shogun Tokugawa Iemochi’s procession from Tokyo to Kyoto (Shogun’s official visit to Emperor) that took place in 1863 (Bunkyu 3) and it is known as “Gojouraku Toukaidou (Samurai’s procession along the Toukaidou Highway)”. Iemochi’s visit was an unusual event since last time Tokugawa Shogun visited Emperor was 229 years ago when the Third Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu visited Emperor. Therefore this event got a huge attention from the people of Edo. This series was very popular that 162 works were produced within this series. Since 16 artists from Utagawa School were involved for the production, it is considered that the publisher wanted to produce many works within a short period of time.