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Station 28: Fukuroi

Kunisada I (Toyokuni III), 1854, Wood cut
Station 28: Fukuroi
Station 28: Fukuroi
Station 28: Fukuroi
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Category
Library Item
Item no
16274
Title
Fifty-three stations by two brushes (Sohitsu gojusantsugi). Station 28: Fukuroi
Description
In this print, a woman in a blue kimono with a white sleeveless tunic stands with a ladle in her hand. She is dressed as a pilgrim and wears a broad brimmed straw hat (sandogasa) on her back, a collection of wooden tokens on a string around her neck and straw sandals on her feet. Both the hat and a red section of the woman's white tunic bear inscriptions. Pilgrims would collect these inscriptions as they toured the surrounding temples and shrines. The woman's hair is youthfully decorated with combs and hairpins and she wears an obi belt with a red and white tie-dyed (shibori) star burst design.
Behind her stands a boy eating dango (Japanese dumplings) from a skewer and carrying a bamboo ladle. He is similarly dressed in gaiters and straw sandals and wears a straw hat on his back. His kimono is pale blue with a brown grid pattern.
In the background inset, Hiroshige depicts a view of a village surrounded by flat fields. A close up of the hind legs of a horse and the gaitered legs of a traveller also feature in this scene.
Hiroshige's Fukuroi edition in the Hoeido Tokaido series emphasises the rusticity of the location. In this print, a woman makes tea for a customer by heating a kettle over a simple fire. Hiroshige's other Tokaido print series portray people flying kites as a form of religious invocation. In the series 'Tokaido Pairs' or 'Fifty-three parallels of the Tokaido' (Tokaido gojusantsugi), published in the mid 1840s by Iseya and others, a print design by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798-1861) illustrates the Buddhist monk, Nichiren Shonin. In 1280, Nichiren addressed a letter to Nikke Saemon no jo who lived in Fukuroi. The letter or 'Nikke Gosho' explored issues of faith and knowledge when striving toward the attainment of Buddhahood.
Artist / maker
Kunisada I (Toyokuni III)
Engraver
Hori Take (Yokogawa Takejiro)
Date
1854
Size
36 x 24.8 cm
Type
Location
Art and Design Library
Rights and purchasing
Option
Price
Digital FileElectronic file 72 dpi JPEG
£5.80(inc. VAT 20%)
Digital FileElectronic File 300 dpi TIFF
£29.40(inc. VAT 20%)
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