Tōkaidō plate, unknown maker from Japan

The Tōkaidō road was a route that stretched between Kyoto and Edo along the eastern coast of Japan during the Edo Period (1600–1868). Along the road were 53 government-established stations for travelers to eat, rest, and present their travel permits to continue on their journey. Each of the circles on this plate represents one of those stations with a scene from Utagawa Hiroshige’s famous 53 Stations of the Tōkaidō print series.

Exhibition Label: "Images of the Journey," Jun-2005, Hillary Pedersen The Edo period (1600-1868) in Japan was a period of relative social and political stability. Because of this peaceful atmosphere, travel and tourism throughout Japan increased; roads became safer, and economic stability led to increased discretionary income-more money could be spent on travel, rather than only on daily necessities. Along the well-known Tokaido-, the highway between the capital city of Edo and the cultural center of Kyoto, 53 stops became famous and were the topics of several print series, such as the famous 53 Stations of the Tokaido- by Hiroshige (see related prints in this exhibition). The 53 stations here are depicted in the form of a ceramic plate, each roundel containing one of the vignettes from this well-known series. Archive Label 2003: The first porcelain kilns in Japan were in Arita near a large kaolin deposit in what is now Hizen prefecture in Kyushu. The deposit was discovered by Korean potters brought to Arita in 1616 by Nabeshima Naoshige, feudal lord of the region. Products of the kilns were often called Imari ware because they were shipped from the nearby port of Imari to Europe as well as other parts of Japan. At first, the blue and white designs imitated porcelain from Ming dynasty (1368-1644) China, but gradually the subject matter broadened to include landscape and genre scenes such as those illustrated in contemporary Japanese woodblock prints. In this plate, the roundels contain vignettes from Hiroshige’s popular Tokaido series published by Hoedo in 1833-34.