Tokaido road

This jacquard obi is woven of silk threads and thin silvery slats. The warp itself is made of a silvery slat which gives this fabric an intense shine when it moves in the light.

The Tokaido road was a historic highway in Japan during the Edo period, connecting the cities of Edo (modern-day Tokyo) and Kyoto. It stretched approximately 320 miles along the eastern coast of Honshu, Japan's main island. Along the road were built official stations where travelers could rest and find accommodations. The road played a crucial role in facilitating trade, travel, and communication between the two major cities and was immortalized in ukiyo-e artist Utagawa Hiroshige's famous print series, "The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido."

In 1832, Hiroshige embarked on a journey along the Tokaido road as he was in charge of delivering documents to the emperor. Along the way, he sketched the scenes he witnessed and he finalized the wood block paintings in the two following years.

On this obi we can observe most of the artists 55 illustrations (there are actually 55 -53 stations plus the departure and the arrival). All the artworks are represented within other shapes, like clouds or fans, which allows the obi maker to play around with the layout. You can see a few remarkable stations in the photos below, along with the original artworks for reference (this part looks best on a computer screen).

Framing

The motif doesn’t repeat on this obi so once it has been used, the same motif cannot be used anymore. I can’t list all the stations represented on the obi so if you are looking for one in particular, please let me know ad I will check that for you.

Similar motifs available