Hakone - Utagawa Hiroshige

A woodblock print by Utagawa Hiroshige depicting travellers navigating the steep Hakone pass at night by torchlight.

This woodblock print is part of the series The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō, which documents the route between Edo and Kyoto. Hiroshige depicts the mountainous Hakone pass at night, a challenging segment of the journey for travellers. The composition focuses on a group of porters carrying a palanquin up a steep, rocky path. They carry torches, which cast a warm, flickering glow against the dark, moody atmosphere of the mountain side. The smoke from the torches rises in thin, vertical lines, contrasting with the jagged, dark silhouettes of the pine trees that frame the scene.

The colour palette is dominated by deep, nocturnal tones, punctuated by the ochre and orange hues of the torchlight. Hiroshige uses the woodblock medium to create flat areas of colour, while the texture of the paper remains visible in the darker sections. The figures are rendered with economy, their postures conveying the physical exertion required to navigate the difficult terrain. The print captures a specific moment of travel, focusing on the human experience of the journey rather than just the geography. The inclusion of the cartouche in the upper right corner identifies the series and the specific station, a standard feature of the Tōkaidō prints. This work demonstrates Hiroshige's ability to convey atmospheric conditions and the passage of time through the medium of ukiyo-e.