Artwork
東海道五十三次 四日市|Yokkaichi
東海道五十三次 四日市|Yokkaichi is an ink print by the Romanticist artist Utagawa Hiroshige. It dates from 1838 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Overview
Executed in ink and color on paper, the work measures in the traditional horizontal format and is now part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection.
Utagawa Hiroshige’s woodblock print titled *Yokkaichi* dates to around 1838. It is one of the fifty-three images that compose his celebrated series documenting the stations along the Tōkaidō, the main coastal road linking Edo and Kyoto during the Edo period. Executed in ink and color on paper, the work measures in the traditional horizontal format and is now part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection.
Subject & Meaning
The scene portrays a tranquil riverside at the Yokkaichi post station. A modest wooden bridge spans calm water while pedestrians in plain attire cross the path, some shielding themselves with umbrellas or carrying bundles. Children play near the shore, and a few figures linger beneath leafless trees, suggesting everyday travel and the quiet rhythms of life along the historic route.
Technique & Style
Hiroshige employs the ukiyo‑e method of carving separate woodblocks for each color, applying flat pigments that yield a restrained palette of blues, greens, and earth tones. Clean, unmodulated lines define the bridge and figures, while subtle gradations of ink suggest depth. The composition balances motion—visible in the figures’ strides—with stillness, conveyed by the placid water and open sky.
History & Provenance
Created during Hiroshige’s mature period, the print reflects his shift from bustling urban scenes to landscape-oriented subjects, a hallmark of his later career. After its production in the late 1830s, the image circulated as part of the popular Tōkaidō series, reaching collectors throughout Japan. It entered the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s holdings in the twentieth century, where it remains on view as an example of Edo‑period travel imagery.
Artist & collection
Artist
Utagawa Hiroshige (歌川 広重) or Andō Hiroshige (安藤 広重), born Andō Tokutarō (安藤 徳太郎; 1797 – 12 October 1858), was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist, considered the last great master of that tradition.
