THE TŌKAIDŌ ROAD · LETTER 1 OF 55
Nihonbashi: Morning View
This first one is on us.
Every Friday, Floating World Members get a short letter of their own. Our first series walks the old highway from Edo to Kyoto, one Hiroshige print at a time. That’s 55 prints, 53 stations and roughly 500 kilometres. This letter normally goes to members only, but we wanted you to see where the journey begins. Thanks to our Founding Members, we can share it with everyone.
At a glance
Utagawa Hiroshige, 日本橋 朝之景 (Nihonbashi Asa no Kei), from The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō, c. 1833 to 1834. Colour woodblock print, published by Hōeidō.
The story
Every road in Japan started here. Nihonbashi, the “Japan Bridge”, was built in 1603 and became kilometre zero for the five great highways leading out of Edo. The most important was the Tōkaidō, which ran mostly along the Pacific coast to the imperial capital, Kyoto. On foot, the trip took about two weeks.
Hiroshige was in his mid thirties and not yet a star when this series came out. Legend says he travelled the road in 1832 with an official delegation bringing horses to the emperor’s court, sketching as he went. Historians aren’t sure it happened quite like that. What is certain: the series was a hit the moment it appeared, and it made Hiroshige the leading landscape artist of his day.
Look at what he chose to open with. Not a grand view, but a moment. It’s around four in the morning, and the wooden gates have just swung open. A lord’s procession comes over the arch of the bridge under the first glow of dawn, with two porters carrying chests in front and the spear carriers right behind. In the foreground, fishmongers from the nearby market hurry out of the way, their loads swinging from their poles. The start of the day, the start of the journey and the start of business, all in one image.
The detail you might miss
Look to the right, next to the open gate. Two little dogs are there, minding their own business, completely unbothered by the lord marching past. Hiroshige filled his road with small, everyday moments like this, and spotting those moments is half the fun of the journey ahead.
Then and now
You can still stand on Nihonbashi today. The stone bridge dates from 1911, and since the 1960s an expressway has run right over it. That is finally changing: the overpass is being moved underground, and the open sky should return around 2040.
Next Friday
We leave the city. The procession we just watched cross the bridge is already disappearing down the road, and at the very next station, Hiroshige shows us the sea for the first time.
Continue the journey
From next Friday, the road continues for members only, one print a week, all the way to Kyoto. Members also get the full archive of letters, a new wallpaper pack every month and our complete archive of 200+ poster designs from the JPN Studio poster shop, ready to download and print professionally for your own use.
Join for €8 a month or €80 a year and come along.
Or become a Founding Member for €15 a month or €150 a year. You get everything above, plus a tote bag and a postcard pack every year, as a thank you for helping us build this from the very start. Founding Membership is only open during our launch.
Hit reply and tell me: what would make this worth joining for you? Even one line helps. I read every reply.
See you on the road,
Bjorn