Okazaki - Utagawa Hiroshige

Fifty-three Pairings for the Tokaido Road - Around 1845, Hiroshige, Kuniyoshi, and Toyokuni III (Kunisada) contributed designs to a Tokaido series titled "Fifty-three Pairings (or Parallels) for the Tokaido Road." The series featured images of historical figures, legends, and ghost stories associated with the different stations along this famous route. The series title appears in a black cartouche at upper right, with a narrative in an inset at left, and a scene illustrating the story below. An interesting take on the classic Tokaido series, these prints feature lively and animated designs of warriors and beauties or ghosts and spirits, instead of typical travelers, bringing the highway to life.

The 514 km long Tōkaidō Road linked the shōgun's capital of Edo (present day Tokyo) and the imperial capital Kyoto. On the highway there were fifty-three halting places. These halting places, together with the starting point at the Nihonbashi (Japan Bridge) in Edo and the finish at Kyoto, make up the fifty-five subjects commonly found in the series of views of the Tōkaidō. Tōkaidō can be roughly translated as "eastern sea route".

Hiroshige (1797-1858)

Fifty-three Pairings for the Tokaido Road
Tōkaidō gojūsan tsui
東海道五十三対

Date: 1845-46 (Kōka 2-3)

39 Okazaki: Yahagi Station
(Yahagi no shuku), Jōruri-hime
岡崎　矢矧の宿　浄瑠璃姫
Publisher: Ibaya Kyūbei