Kisokaidô: Itahana - Station 14

This print shows the approach to the Itahana station on a clear morning after a heavy snowfall. Along a row of pine trees lining the banks of a swiftly flowing stream, travelers in a single line trudge along the path that leads to the station (1). The colors on their coats, the green flashes of pine needles half hidden by the snow and the blue of the river relieve what is otherwise a black-and-white scene. The snow which remains on the wayfarers’ shoulders suggests the intensity of the cold. The black sky above may announce more snow, but the rosy pink (2) on the horizon suggests that the worst has passed. The frost on the pine trees betrays the influence of Hokusai who used a similar approach in the 36 views of Mt.Fuji published a few years earlier. This is one of Eisen’s most successful snow scenes.

This print is never signed. The drawing appears to be in Eisen’s hand, the title is in Hiroshige style and format. It is possibly a print left incomplete by Eisen and finished by Hiroshige. The print was jointly published by Hoeido and Kinjudo, the only one where Eisen collaborated with Kinjudo. These snow scene prints are difficult to do as the white of the snow is not done with a pigment, but by leaving the white paper blank. The quality of the paper is therefore very important, but in later editions, this quality decreased and the printing became poorer with the additional loss of the blue gradation in the river and of the icy green gradation of the river bank.

(Source: The 69 stations of the Kisokaido, Sebastian Izzard, Brazillier 2008)