Arai, from the series Fifty-Three Stations of Tōkaidō
Other Titles
Arai 荒井, from the series Tōkaidō gojūsan tsugi 東海道五十三次
Abstract
In this depiction of Arai, the thirty-first station of the Tōkaidō, Hokusai shows an official checking the documents of a traveler at Arai's inspection station by the shore of the Hamanako lagoon. Travelers arrived at Arai by crossing the lagoon by boat. On the righthand side of the image, an assistant loads pack-horses with bundles from a moored boat.
Accession Number
C00.1755.036
Format
prints
Culture
Japanese (culture or style)
Genre
Landscapes (representations)
Origin Information
Edo (Tokyo), Japan
Date
ca. 1806
Physical Description
1 print ; sheet 8 3/4 x 6 1/2 in. (22.2 x 16.5 cm)
Note (Period)
Edo period
Note (Medium/support)
Polychrome woodblock print; ink and color on paper
This series of images illustrating the fifty-three stations of the Tōkaidō is characteristic of Hokusai's style in the early 1800s, when, unlike several decades later, the artist focused on figures instead of landscape and used the traditional narrati ve device of cloud patterns.