Kisokaidô: Ota - Station 51

Utagawa Hiroshige - Series of the 69 stations of the Kisokaido: Station Ota (53rd print) (Ota)

© Trustees of the British Museum

We are now in the Owari Province, one of the strongest clans in Japan and during the Edo period, it was directly affiliated to the Tokugawa shogunate. Ota was one of its administrative centres with responsibility for justice, police and economic affairs, covering from Ena (Natsugawa, station No.45) to Unuma (station 52). Ota is located at the confluence of the Kiso and Hida rivers and the crossing was considered the most difficult of the journey. In Hiroshige’s print, people are gathering on the near shore to make the crossing. At the shoreline, passengers await the ferry (1) seen midstream under a bright pink sky indicating that it is morning. Behind the boat, a raft of timbers (2) is being poled down the river. In the foreground is an elderly couple (3) on a pilgrimage and two young men sit waiting on the rocks. A spit of land on the right is covered with pine trees and on the far shore, mist rises in front of large stands of bamboo (4). Behind them on the right is Mt.Hatobuki (5).

The earliest impressions have visible wood grain in the blue of the river, which enhances the sense of moving water. This unfortunately disappears from the second edition as here. In later printings, the printing is coarse with little bokashi, the earth in the foreground becomes yellow, the color of the robes of the men sitting on the rocks changes and the layers of mist is omitted. The publisher’s seal changes from Kinjudo to Yamadaya Shojiro.

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

Aerial view of the Kiso river with the Ota Bridge

A traditional boat on the Kiso river

The gassho-zukuri at Shirakawa-go in the high valley of hida-gawa river

Map of the center of Ota in mid-19th century with the main street and the details of each building. Each household is clearly indicated.

And now ?

Ota located at 385km/240mi from Nihonbashi is now part of Minokamo city. There are only 150km/95mi to walk until the end of the journey, but we have to cross the Kiso river, now enlarged by the waters of the Hida River and now over 700m/half a mile wide. When the snows were thawing, flooding was common and this crossing was the most difficult of the journey, The Hida-gawa River comes from a narrow valley in the Japanese Alps. Communication was difficult and railway came late to this part of the country, preserving the old ways and traditional customs. Hida-Takayama in the centre of the valley at 120km or 75mi north of Ota is a superb town famous for its old wooden houses and sake breweries. Further up the valley, the village of Shirakawa-go is included in the Unesco World Heritage, thanks to its “gassho-zukuri”, huge farmhouses with thatched roofs.

After Ota, the Kiso River gets even larger, but quieter and is nicknamed “Japanese Rhine” where cruises are making tours. The Kiso River empties in the Pacific Ocean near Nagoya 50km/30mi south of Ota.

Ota has a few old houses such as the Komatsuya Inn and the wali-honjin built in 1765 and now a museum. In 1861, Princess Kazu Chikako (1846-1877), daughter of the emperor went from Kyoto to Edo via the Nakasendo to get married to the shogun Tokugawa Iemochi and she stayed at this waki-honjin. When Iemochi passed away in 1866, they did not have children and she organized the succession where Tokugawa Yoshinobu became the last shogun before the Meiji restoration. When the succession was completed, she retired to a convent and became a nun, writing poetry and superb calligraphies. Along the Nakasendo, memorial stones have been erected to commemorate this journey. There is also an interesting museum in Ota dedicated to the Nakasendo road and Edo period, well worth a visit.