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Keizai Eisen - Series of the 69 étapes of the Kisokaido: Kutsukake (20th print) - Station Kutsukake. Rain on the nearby Plain of Hiratsuka (Kutuskake no eki Hiratsukahara uchu no kei)
(Edition done in 1950's by Kyoto Hanga-in under the supervision of Narazaki Muneshige, the most faithful to the first edition)
An autumn squall strikes travelers on the road just outside the station of Kutsukake. Its thatched and tiled roofs (1) appear just behind the crest of the slope. The trees are being stripped by the wind of what few leaves are left on their boughs. Sheets of rain soak the ox herder (2) and his fully laden animal. Behind him a traveler with a blue striped cloak (3) and another one in a straw raincoat (4) hurry towards the station. In the Hiratsuka plain below, a path meanders towards the entrance of a small shrine (5).
The first edition had the traveler in the center with a green coat and the yellow-green tone of the road and the plain gets darker and greyer. Fully signed editions are rare as both seal and artist's signature (英泉) soon disappeared. You will find here two versions of the print (both reproductions). The bottom one from the Hashiguchi Goyo’s workshop (ca.1920) has an extra seal in the bottom left corner to identify the workshop. Here the path has a touch of blue added, transforming it into a stream.
(Source: The 69 stations of the Kisokaido, Sebastian Izzard, Brazillier 2008)
Kutsukake ca. 1880
Seal of Hashiguchi Goyo's workshop
And now ?
Kutsukake is now incorporated into Karuizawa and is at 38ri 18 cho, ie. 152km/ 97mi from Nihonbashi. It was a small station with one honjin, two waki-honjin and 17 inns, mostly used when the bad weather closed the pass beyond. A picture taken ca.1880 shows us a small village with traditional thatched roof cottages. In 1951, a major fire destroyed most of the buildings and nothing remains from the old station, except the well of the former honjin. Nishijima’s print depicts a neighboring farm in winter under heavy snowfall.
Memorial at the entrance of Kutsukake station
The Kisokaido road between Kutsukake and the next station Oiwake
Memorial at the location of the former waki-honjin at Kutsukake
Mori Masamoto - Kutsukake and Mt.Asama at dawn (1952)
Mori Masamoto - Kutsukake and Mt.Asama in winter (1952)
Nishijima Katsuyuki - Series of the Kisokaido - Kutsukake
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