Nihonbashi

Artist

Tamenobu Fujikawa (Japanese, active circa 1910-1920)

Date

1918

Medium

Woodblock print

Dimensions

Sheet : 9 9/16 x 14 in. (24.29 x 35.56 cm)

Credit Line

Hope College Collection

Object Number

2014.13.2

Label

Nihonbashi is a bridge in downtown Tokyo (formerly Edo). During the Tokugawa period (1615-1868), the arched wooden bridge that existed where the modern bridge now stands was the official eastern terminus of the Tōkaidō and is where the fictional journey recounted in Shank’s Mare Tōkaidō begins. In the novel, Yaji and Kita are in a rush to leave Edo because they owe debts they cannot repay to several local merchants. This print portrays the two characters in the left foreground hurrying to get on the road before they are overtaken by the entourage of a high-ranking samurai, the advance members of which are just approaching the end of the bridge.