Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) designed a series of seventy landscapes depicting the provinces of Japan between 1854 and 1856. It was the first in a number of sets from the highly productive years of his later life. The designs comprising "Famous Places in the 60-Odd Provinces (Rokuju yoshu meisho zue) are taken from all corners of Japan, thus representing an enormous innovation in the choice of subject matter. Large sets published before this had depicted the famous routes between Edo and Kyoto, the Tokaido and the Kisokaido, but Hiroshige had never before ventured beyond these well-known themes/ The Japanese countryside was already depicted in graphic art, but mostly in travelers' guidebooks and not as full color prints. With this set, Hiroshige brought the Japanese countryside closer to the urban population. It evidently met with high acclaim: the publisher Koshimuraya Heisuke produced a large number of impressions. In this study, the author Marije Jansen briefly discusses Hiroshige's life and the formal aspects of this series. Jansen takes as her point of departure the set in possession of the German collector Gerhard Pulverer, which is generally acknowledged to be a superb example of a first edition, and compares this series to a number of other sets in public and private collections. The detectable printing variations in each design are carefully analyzed, making this an indispensable tool for collectors.

"Presented alongside Hiroshige's prints, with descriptions and context, Delord's work offers an absorbing contemplation of Japan's past and present via one legendary travel route, and shows how thoroughly upended our surroundings have been in what was, in wider perspective, only a short time." -- The New York Times Journey along the famed Tokaido Road--an ancient thoroughfare with a modern twist. The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido is the best-known work of the great 19th century Japanese woodblock artist Utagawa Hiroshige. The series of 53 masterful woodblock prints depicts stops along the ancient Tokaido Road--which, from the eleventh to the nineteenth century, was the main thoroughfare between Tokyo and Kyoto. Though the road itself is now submerged under Japan's twenty-first-century urban landscape, French artist Philippe Delord set out to see if he could find the original locations, with just a moped, sketchbook, watercolors and a book of Hiroshige's prints. Hiroshige's Japan allows readers to make the journey alongside Delord, venturing from Tokyo and Mount Fuji to mountain passes and rugged coastlines. Inside are all 53 original scenery prints made by Hiroshige, alongside their modern-day equivalent by Delord. A lively commentary about his experiences as he tries to locate each of the 53 scenes (without speaking Japanese!) offers readers an insightful, and often humorous, look into both modern and historical Japan. Part travelogue, part work of art, this book is sure to delight armchair travelers, history buffs, art enthusiasts and Japanophiles alike!

Books and book illustrations in early modern Japan / Ekkehard May -- The illustrated household encyclopedias that once civilized Japan / Yokoyama Toshio -- The 'spectacle' of womanhood: new types in texts and pictures on pictorial Sugoroku games of the late Edo period / Susanne Formanek -- The Tokaido woodblock print series as an example of intertextuality in the fine arts / Franziska Ehmcke -- Culinary culture and its transmission in the late Edo period / Harada Nobua -- The hidden heritage : books, prints, printed toys and other publications for young people in Tokugawa Japan / Ann Herring -- The printing of illustrated travelogues in 18th-century Japan / Shirahata Yozaburo -- Illustrated Kabuki texts / Martina Schoenbein -- Kawaraban : enjoying the news when news was forbidden / Sepp Linhart -- Illness illustrated. Socio-historical dimensions of late Edo measles pictures (Hashika-e) / Hartmut O. Rotermund -- Between fiction and non-fiction : documentary literature in the late Edo period / Stephan Kohn -- Publishing Ejanaika : popular religion as media event / Reinhard Zollner -- Shinbun nishiki-e, Nishiki-e shinbut: news and new sensations in old garb at the beginning of a new era / Sepp Linhart.

Hiroshige. Shaping the Image of Japan is a comprehensive overview of Utagawa Hiroshige's work as a woodblock print artist. Hiroshige (1797-1858) is one of the great masters in the history of Japanese printmaking and has worked in virtually every genre of ukiyo-e or 'images of the floating world'. He achieved his greatest fame through his depictions of the Japanese landscape, which were not only popular in Japan, but also found favor with European artists at the turn of the 19th century.

This work is a translation of the "Sarugaku dangi" ("Talks on Sarugaku"), a collection of comments by the actor, playwright, critic and founding father of the Nt theatre, Zeami (1363-1443). The "Sarugaku dangi" is generally considered as part of Zeami's transmitted writings, but more specifically it forms part of his treatises on Nt. The "Sarugaku dangi" is a unique source on the history of early Nt. The present translation, preceded by an extensive introduction on Zeami and his work, is an invaluable aid in the study of Nt.

Japanese woodblock prints, or ukiyo-e, are the most recognizable Japanese art form. Their massive popularity has spread from Japan to be embraced by a worldwide audience. Covering the period from the beginning of the Japanese woodblock print in the 1680s until the year 1900, Japanese Woodblock Prints provides a detailed survey of all the famous ukiyo-e artists, along with over 500 full-color prints. Unlike previous examinations of this art form, Japanese Woodblock Prints includes detailed histories of the publishers of woodblock prints--who were often the driving force determining which prints, and therefore which artists, would make it into mass circulation for a chance at critical and popular success. Invaluable as a guide for ukiyo-e enthusiasts looking for detailed information about their favorite Japanese woodblock print artists and prints, it is also an ideal introduction for newcomers to the world of the woodblock print. This lavishly illustrated book will be a valued addition to the libraries of scholars, as well as the general art enthusiast.