No. 38: Fukushima, from the series Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaido - Utagawa Hiroshige

A woodblock print by Utagawa Hiroshige depicting the Fukushima checkpoint along the historic Kisokaido road in Japan.

This woodblock print by Utagawa Hiroshige depicts the Fukushima station, the thirty-eighth stop along the Kisokaido road. The Kisokaido was a major route connecting Edo and Kyoto, winding through the mountainous interior of Japan. Hiroshige collaborated with Keisai Eisen on this series, with Hiroshige producing forty-seven of the sixty-nine prints.

The composition focuses on the Fukushima checkpoint, a site of administrative control during the Edo period. Travellers are shown passing through the wooden gate, their figures rendered with the characteristic simplicity of the Ukiyo-e style. The scene is framed by steep, dark embankments that create a sense of enclosure, guiding the viewer's eye toward the gatehouse. The stone wall on the left provides a textural contrast to the soft, organic forms of the trees above.

Hiroshige employs a muted palette, dominated by deep blues and earthy tones, which reflects the atmospheric conditions of the mountain pass. The sky transitions from a darker hue at the top to a lighter shade near the horizon, a technique that adds depth to the two-dimensional medium. The figures, wearing traditional straw hats and carrying bundles, provide a sense of scale and human activity within the quiet, regulated environment of the checkpoint. This print captures the routine of travel in nineteenth-century Japan, documenting the infrastructure and social order of the era. The precise lines of the architecture contrast with the natural elements, demonstrating the artist's ability to balance man-made structures with the surrounding environment.