Kisokaidô: Nagakubo - Station 27

Utagawa Hiroshige - Series of the 69 stations of the Kisokaido: Station Nagakubo (28th print) (Nagakubo)

© Trustees of the British Museum

After Kasadori pass, the road followed a gentle slope towards Nagakubo and the valley of the Yoda-gawa river. Hiroshige set his scene on the Wada bridge on the Yoda-gawa river, past Nagakubo station, towards the difficult Wada pass. In the foreground, two children (1) play with a dog and beyond, a traveller and his horse are walking towards the inn. The saddle-cloth (2) is decorated with Iseya Rihei’s publisher seal (林) which is also in the left margin (3) together with a kiwame censor seal. The roof of the inn is constructed in a style peculiar to the district with stones on the tiles to secure them when the strong winds of the fifth month are blowing. On the Wada bridge, silhouetted against the light of the moon rising over the range of the mountains in the distance, three travelers, one of them mounted proceed on their journey. Behind them, a single man on foot approaches the station. The block with the central pine (4) appears to have been printed twice, slightly off-key to suggest the pine needles shimmering in the moonlight. The river runs shallow here and several shoals indicated in dark blue, can be seen below the surface.

This print has seen five major modifications: The first edition does not have mountains in the background; they were added in the second printing. In the third printing (as can be seen here), the far railing (5) of the bridge is missing. On the left is an enlargement of the first edition with both railings. The mountains on the right are missing on the 4^th printing and all are totally missing in the 5^th edition.

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

The bridge with the back railing in the first edition (Reproduction from Kyoto Hanga-in)

A bridge in the Nagano mountains ca. 1880

Nagakubo ca. 1880

And now ?

After Kasadori pass and before Wada pass, Nagakubo station is at 188km/115mi from Nihonbashi. It was an important station between these two difficulties where travelers could rest as can be seen in this 1880 picture, By 1840, there were 187 buildings with one honjin, one waki-honjin and 43 inns. The bridge of the print has been replaced by a modern one in concrete. In the village, the former honjin is now a museum, well worth a visit. In this part of the country, thatched roofs are more common and even the bus stop has one.