Nissaka from the Reisho Set of the series Fifty-three Stations on the Tokaido Road

In 1832, Utagawa Hiroshige received an invitation to join an official procession to deliver gifts from his hometown, Edo, to the emperor in Kyoto. Traveling along the Tōkaidō route that linked the two capitals, Hiroshige sketched every village along the way. When Hiroshige returned home, he completed a fifty-three print series commemorating his journey called Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido Road, which contains some of his best-known prints. Hiroshige made several other sets of Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido Road, among them the Reisho (formal) Set featuring the title written in formal characters. This series is very rare and exists only in Hiroshige’s earliest impressions. Nissaka, the woodblock print featured above, was part of a Reisho Set. The wood-grain imprint from the woodblock can be seen in the sky.