Kisokaidô: Oi - Station 46

Utagawa Hiroshige - Series of the 69 stations of the Kisokaido: Station Oi (48th print) (Oi)

© Trustees of the British Museum

Oi is in the southern foothills of the Japanese Alps mountain range where winters can be difficult and very snowy. Here we are on the steep Jimbei slope between Oi and Hokute, the next station. In the perfectly balanced composition, four travellers, two on foot and two on horseback (2) make their way past a pair of large pine trees (1). Enveloped in protective clothing, with their head down they trudge through the falling snow. The shape of their hats and shoulders reflect the curved forms of the snow-covered Mt.Ena and Kiso range behind them. Only the horses and the colour touches of their leggings, panniers and luggage (3) offer some relief in this black and white frigid scene.

In the first impressions, printers made abundant use of bokashi gradation printing in the sky, the mountains and the trees to suggest clouds full of snow about to overwhelm the struggling figures on the road. As editions progressed, the effect grew increasingly subdued, almost disappearing in the last ones where the sky becomes a flat, medium gray. The falling snow was done by flicking gofun powder (mix of crushed sea shells and white pigment) onto the surface of the paper. This has oxidized, appearing black instead of white and spoiling the intended monochrome tone of the print.

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

In the Japanese Alps ca.1880

Kadoya Inn at Oi in 1861

Kadoya Inn at Oi in 2007

And now ?

Oi at 345km/215mi from Nihonbashi is now a suburb of Ena city. It was situated on both Kisokaido and Shitakaido Roads, the latter leading to the Great Ise Shrine to the South-West. It was an average sized station with 100 inhabitants and 41 inns. Between Nakatsugawa and Ena, the Kiso River is going through the Ena Gorges, known for their strange-shaped ricks, the banks lined with blossoming cherry trees in spring and the red foliage of maple trees in the fall. After the gorges, the valley gets larger and the terraced paddy fields shape the landscape. The Agi-gawa River goes through Ena City, emptying into the Kiso River after the station. In Ena, there are few old buildings remaining, such as the Kadoya Inn behind the railway station. The honjin was destroyed in 1946 and only the gate and the outside walls remain. Next to it, the wooden official notice board can be seen.

The road leads to the former station via a Masugata or defensive double-bends supposed to slow down any attacker. On the ridge above, the ruins of Iwamura Castle dominate the city. It was an impressive castle that was taken and lost and taken again during the battles between the Takeda and Oda Clans in the second half of the 16th century. The Oda Clan won and then later, it was taken over by the Tokugawa Clan and it was dismantled in 1873 during the Meiji Restoration. Only the impressive stone base remains, but it gives an idea of how large it was.