Kisokaidô: Otsu - Station 69
Utagawa Hiroshige - Series of the 69 Stations of the Kisokaido: Station Otsu (71st print) (Otsu)
© Trustees of the British Museum
We are now looking at the final view of our trip. Otsu is the last station of the Nakasendo Road and between Otsu and Kyoto, the road is the Tokaido Road, leading to the final goal, the Great Sanjo-bashi Bridge in the centre of Kyoto.
This last print of the Kisokaido series shows us the Hacho-dori high street sloping down towards the Lake Biwa. Laden oxcarts climb up the street attracting the attention of three women on the right, dressed in blue, purple, red and white kimono and wearing sedge hats. At the palanquin stand on the right, two bearers wait for trade. Hacho-dori high street is lined with shops on both sides. In the distance sails of fishing boats can be seen on the lake and skeins of geese fly overhead, harbingers of autumns.
To celebrate the end of the series, Hiroshige decorated the multiple shop signs with emblems representing himself and the publisher. On the right, the inn where the palanquin stand is located bears the sign 金 “kin” (1) at the end of a pole and on the lamp (2) above the door. It is the first character for Kinjudo, the name of the publisher. Another sign behind the palanquin bearers is read 全 “zen” (3) or whole indicating that the series is complete. Further down the hill, two houses have the lozenge emblem “Hiro” (4) and the character 重 “shige” (5) in reference to the artist. On the left, the first house bears the emblem (6) of the publisher and the lantern (7) above the door has two sign, the first is read 大當“ootari” or great performance and the second いせり “Iseri” is the shortened version of the publisher’s name Iseya Rihei. The next shop has a sign which reads 新板 “shinpan” (8) meaning newly published and further down another sign (9) reads 大吉 “daikichi” or great fortune.
This print had few modifications. The gradation at the top of the print was initially printed in blue or in red, then the color settled on blue in its final editions.
(Source: The 69 stations of the Kisokaido, Sebastian Izzard, Brazillier 2008)
Utagawa Hiroshige - Series of the 53 Stations of the Tokaido "Hoeido" Edition - Station Otsu (54th print)
© Trustees of the British Museum
Hiroshige: The eight views of Omi - The first four prints are at page Moriyama
Andô Hiroshige - Series of the Eight Views of Omi - Clearing storm at Awazu (1834)
Andô Hiroshige - Series of the Eight Views of Omi - Autumn moon on Ishiyama-dera Temple (1834)
Andô Hiroshige - Series of the Eight Views of Omi - Evening bells at Mii-dera Temple (1834)
Andô Hiroshige - Series of the Eight Views of Omi- Evening glow at Seta (1834)
Otsu ca.1880
Otsu seen from Mt.Hiei in 2011
And now ?
Otsu is located at 15km/10mi from Kusatsu and the road is flat along the bank of Lake Biwa. The road goes through Zeze town where one of the castles defending Otsu once stood. The castle was damaged by an earthquake, then demolished in 1870, but its massive doors have been kept and given to the city’s temples and shrines and can be seen in the Zeze-jinja shrine. Before entering Otsu, the road goes through several double-bends meant to slow down any attacker and witness of the extensive defence system.
Otsu was briefly Japan’s capital in the 7th century and has always been an important town, thanks to the numerous roads and the proximity of the lake. In 1843, there were two honjin, one waki-honjin and 71 inns. Now there are over 300,000 inhabitants. Not many old buildings remain, but there are many crafts and antique shops in the small lanes in downtown Otsu contributing to maintain the atmosphere of an old post station. The Biwa Lake empties by the Seta-gawa River which crosses the centre of Otsu. This river is 120km/75 mi long and bears several names along its route: Seta-gawa in Otsu, Uji-gawa near Kyoto, Yodo-gawa near its mouth in Osaka. Under its different names, it is often mentioned in Japanese literature. At Otsu, the famous Karahashi-bashi Bridge crosses the river with a pile on an island. It was a magnificent wooden bridge in Chinese style replaced by a new concrete bridge after the war. But we have several prints of the original bridge by Hiroshige, Ito Shinsui or Yoshida Hiroshi. Around Otsu, there are many panoramas over the lake, traditionally known as the « Eight views of Omi » or « Omi Hakkei » (see also Station Moriyama). Hiroshige published over 20 versions of this series, the first one in 1834-1835 being the most famous. Four locations around Otsu are included in the series: Evening Glow at Seta (with a nice view of the Karahashi bridge), Clearing Storm at Awazu, Autumn Moon on Ishiyama-dera Temple and Evening Bell at Mii-dera Temple (See Station Moriyama for the other four views). Other artists such as Ito Shinsui, Tsuchiya Koitsu or Nishijima Katsuyuki have also done prints on the same topic.
Near Otsu, the Ishiyama-dera Temple is where Murasaki Shikibu started to write « Genji Monogatari » Tales of Genji around year 1000, a masterpiece of Japanese literature depicting the life at court through the eyes of Prince Genji. The temple is well-known for its cherry blossoms in spring and its red maple tree in autumn.
The Mii-dera Temple also known as Onjo-ji was the main rival to Enryaku-ji Temple on Mt.Hiei (see Station Moriyama) and had also an army of warrior-monks. It was destroyed in 1580 and rebuilt in the early 17th century. It is famous for its massive bell, one of the three largest in Japan, its source housed in an octagon-shaped pavilion and its terrace overlooking Lake Biwa. It is included in the "Eight Views of Omi" and many artists such as Hiroshige, Tsuchiya Koitsu, Nishiyama Hideo and Asano Takeji have made prints depicting this temple.
Exiting Otsu via the Tokaido Road, we see replica of oxcarts as per the Hiroshige’s Otsu print in his Tokaido Series, then the road runs alongside the Kenshin expressway and the railway line. It is not a nice walk. The road goes upward towards the Ausaka Pass (or literally Slope of Meeting) which is the limit between the Provinces of Omi and Kyôto. This is where traditionally friends and relatives would part from the people starting the journey towards Edo or welcome the incomers. The farewells or meetings took place at the checkpoint at the pass. A poem from Semimaru written in the 9th century already said:
Kore ya kono This is where
Yuku mo kaeru mo All who leave and who come back
Wakarete wa are parting time and again
Shiru mo shiranu mo Whether friends or strangers
Ausaka no seki At Ausaka checkpoint
And this is with this old poem that we complete our journey and leave the Kisokaidô Road.
I hope you have enjoyed this travel through Japan’s history and geography as much as I had fun writing it. Any suggestions and comments are most welcome and you can contact me at estampe.japonaise@gmail.com
Gate of the former Zeze Castle (ca. 1580) in Zeze-Jinja Temple
Lake Biwa
An old warehouse in Otsu
Seta-Karahashi Bridge ca.1920
Seta-Karahashi Bridge in 2010
Cherry-trees in blossoms and the terrace of Ishiyama-dera Temple where Murasaki Shikibu wrote "Tales of Genji"
Autumn at Ishiyama-dera Temple
Mii-dera Temple with the view over Otsu and Lake Biwa
The courtyard of Mii-dera Temple with the octogonal pavilion for the spring
The bell at Mii-dera Temple
Replicas of ox carts, referring to the Otsu print from the series of the 53 Stations of the Tokaido
The monument at the Ausaka checkpoint
Andô Hiroshige - Series of the 53 Stations of the Tokaido "Kyoka" - Otsu (1839)
Andô Hiroshige - Series of the 53 Stations of the Tokaido "Reisho" - Otsu (1850)
Andô Hiroshige - Series of the 53 Stations of the Tokaido "Gyosho" - Otsu (1842)
Hokusai - Series of the 53 Stations of the Tokaido - Otsu. The same spring at the teahouse as depicted in Hiroshige's print above (Series of the 53 Stations of the Tokaido - Hoeido)
Tsuchiya Koitsu - Sunset on Seta-Karahashi Bridge (1940)
Asano Takeji - Moonlight in Mii-dera Temple (1950)
Yoshida Hiroshi - Seta Karahashi Bridge (1933)
Nishijima Katsuyuki - Seta Karahashi Bridge (2000)