The fan Tōkaidō, station 51

This print depicts Station 51, Ishibe, of the Fan Route (Tōkaidō). It is a collaborative work involving eight artists and thirteen publishers, produced in 1865 in the ōban tate-e format. A group of publishers, observing the public's interest in prints related to the shogun's 1863 journey to Kyoto, conceived the idea of ​​creating a highly elaborate work, corresponding to all 53 stations of the Fan Route and executed by the most renowned artists of the time, requiring meticulous planning and coordination between the various artists and publishers.

To this end, they commissioned Miyagi Gengyo (1817-1880) to create the layout for each print and compile a table of contents for the 55 prints. Gengyo planned the entire design of the prints and decided that the title should be written on an unfurled fan, placed in the upper right part of each print, which is the element that gives the series its title.