The or Sixty-nine Stations of the Kiso Road, is a series of ukiyo-e works created by Utagawa Hiroshige and Keisai Eisen. There are 71 total prints in the series (one for each of the 69 post stations and Nihonbashi; Nakatsugawa-juku has two prints).

The common name for the Kisokaidō is "Nakasendō" so the series is sometimes referred to as the Sixty-nine Stations of the Nakasendō. It is a follow-up to Hiroshige's The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō and he produced 47 of the prints, with Eisen being responsible for the rest.Hiroshige - Kisokaido. www.hiroshige.org.uk. Accessed November 1, 2017.

The series was published by Iseya Rihei (Kinjudō) from .Forrer

The Nakasendō

The Nakasendō was one of the Five Routes constructed under Tokugawa Ieyasu, a series of roads linking the historical capital of Edo with the rest of Japan. The Nakasendō connected Edo with the then-capital of Kyoto. It was an alternate route to the Tōkaidō and travelled through the central part of Honshū, thus giving rise to its name, which means "Central Mountain Road". Along this road, there were sixty-nine different post stations, which provided stables, food, and lodging for travelers.

Prints by Eisen

Eisen produced the first 11 prints of the series, from Nihonbashi to Honjō-shuku, stretching from Tokyo to Saitama Prefecture. His prints from Gunma Prefecture include Kuragano-shuku, Itahana-shuku and Sakamoto-shuku. Representing Nagano Prefecture, he made prints of Kutsukake-shuku, Oiwake-shuku, Iwamurada-shuku, Shiojiri-shuku, Narai-juku, Yabuhara-juku, Nojiri-juku and Magome-juku. His last two prints, Unuma-juku and Gōdo-juku represent Gifu Prefecture. After that, Hiroshige took over production of the series.

Prints by Hiroshige

Hiroshige's prints start in Gunma Prefecture and include Shinmachi-shuku, Takasaki-shuku, Annaka-shuku and Matsuida-shuku. His prints that reflect Nagano Prefecture] are Karuisawa-shuku, Otai-shuku, from Shionada-juku to Shimosuwa-shuku, from Seba-juku to Niekawa-juku, from Miyanokoshi-juku to Suhara-juku, Midono-juku and Tsumago-juku. His prints from Gifu Prefecture include Ochiai-juku to Ōta-juku, Kanō-juku, and from Mieji-juku to Imasu-juku. His last ten prints, from Kashiwabara-juku to Ōtsu-juku are all in Shiga Prefecture.

Tabulation of series The series consists of the sixty-nine stations of the Kisokaidō, plus a board for the starting point, the Nihonbashi bridge ("bridge of Japan") in Edo, and an additional print for the Nakatsugawa-juku station; a total of 71 prints, to which must be added the title page.

The series was published by publisher Takenouchi-Hōeidō, for the first part, and by publisher Kinjūdō for the second. Subsequent reissues were made by Kinjūdō.

№ Woodcut print English name Author Japanese name Transliteration 1 Nihonbashi Eisen 日本橋 Nihonbashi 2 Itabashi Eisen 板橋宿 Itabashi 3 Warabi Eisen 蕨宿 Warabi 4 Urawa Eisen 浦和宿 Urawa 5 Omiya Eisen 大宮宿 Omiya 6 Ageo Eisen 上尾宿 Ageo 7 Okegawa Eisen 桶川宿 Okegawa 8 Konosu Eisen 鴻巣宿 Konosu 9 Kumagaya Eisen 熊谷宿 Kumagai 10 Fukaya Eisen 深谷宿 Fukaya 11 Honjo Eisen 本庄宿 Honjo 12 Shinmachi Hiroshige 新町宿 Shinmachi 13 Kuragano Eisen 倉賀野宿 Kuragano 14 Takasaki Hiroshige 高崎宿 Takasaki 15 Itabana Eisen 板鼻宿 Itahana 16 Annaka Hiroshige 安中宿 Annaka 17 Matsuida Hiroshige 松井田宿 Matsuida 18 Sakamoto Eisen 坂本宿 Sakamoto 19 Karuizawa Hiroshige 軽井沢宿 Karuisawa 20 Kutsukake Eisen 沓掛宿 Kutsukake 21 Oiwake Eisen 追分宿 Oiwake 22 Odai Hiroshige 小田井宿 Otai 23 Iwamurata Eisen 岩村田宿 Iwamurada 24 Shionata Hiroshige 塩名田宿 Shionada 25 Yawata Hiroshige 八幡宿 Yawata 26 Mochizuki Hiroshige 望月宿 Mochizuki 27 Ashida Hiroshige 芦田宿 Ashida 28 Nagakubo Hiroshige 長久保宿 Nagakubo 29 Wada Hiroshige 和田宿 Wada 30 Shimosuwa Hiroshige 下諏訪宿 Shimosuwa 31 Shiojiri Eisen 塩尻宿 Shiojiri 32 Seba Hiroshige 洗馬宿 Seba 33 Motoyama Hiroshige 本山宿 Motoyama 34 Niikawa Hiroshige 贄川宿 Niekawa 35 Narai Eisen 奈良井宿 Narai 36 Yabuhara Eisen 藪原宿 Yabuhara 37 Miyanokoshi Hiroshige 宮ノ越宿 Miyanokoshi 38 Fukushima Hiroshige 福島宿 Fukushima 39 Agematsu Hiroshige 上松宿 Agematsu 40 Suhara Hiroshige 須原宿 Suhara 41 Nojiri Eisen 野尻宿 Nojiri 42 Mitono Hiroshige 三留野宿 Midono 43 Tsumagome Hiroshige 妻籠宿 Tsumago 44 Magome Eisen 馬籠宿 Magome 45 Ochiai Hiroshige 落合宿 Ochiai 46 Nakatsugawa Hiroshige 中津川宿 Nakatsugawa I 47 Nakatsugawa Hiroshige 中津川宿 Nakatsugawa II 48 Oi Hiroshige 大井宿 Ōi 49 Okute Hiroshige 大湫宿 Ōkute 50 Hosokute Hiroshige 細久手宿 Hosokute 51 Mitake Hiroshige 御嶽宿 Mitake 52 Fushimi Hiroshige 伏見宿 Fushimi 53 Ota Hiroshige 太田宿 Ōta 54 Unuma Eisen 鵜沼宿 Unuma 55 Kano Hiroshige 加納宿 Kanō 56 Kodo Eisen 河渡宿 Gōdo 57 Miyeji Hiroshige 美江寺宿 Mieji 58 Akasaka Hiroshige 赤坂宿 Akasaka 59 Tarui Hiroshige 垂井宿 Tarui 60 Sekigahara Hiroshige 関ヶ原宿 Sekigahara 61 Imasu Hiroshige 今須宿 Imasu 62 Kashiwabara Hiroshige 柏原宿 Kashiwabara 63 Samegai Hiroshige 醒井宿 Samegai 64 Banba Hiroshige 番場宿 Banba 65 Toriimoto Hiroshige 鳥居本宿 Toriimoto 66 Takamiya Hiroshige 高宮宿 Takamiya 67 Echigawa Hiroshige 愛知川宿 Echigawa 68 Musa Hiroshige 武佐宿Musa 69 Moriyama Hiroshige 守山宿 Moriyama 70 Kusatsu Hiroshige 草津宿 Kusatsu 71 Otsu Hiroshige 大津宿 Ōtsu 72 Title page

See also The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō by Hiroshige

References Notes

Matthi Forrer, Hiroshige. Prestel. 2011 (trans. Peter Mason) Basil Stewart, A Guide to Japanese Prints and Their Subject Matter. Dover Books on Oriental Art, 1979 (1st ed. 1922), pp. 98–107. Gordon Friese, Keisai Eisen - Utagawa Hiroshige. Die 69 Stationen des Kisokaido: Eine vollständige Serie japanischer Farbholzschnitte und ihre Druckvarianten. Unna, 2008, Sebastian Izzard, Hiroshige: Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaido.George Braziller, 2009.

External links The Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaido Road hiroshige.org.uk