[240x160]36 Yabuhara (Eisen)
This is a sight at the Torii Pass (about 1,197 m above sea level) before the post town of Yabuhara. From here the Hida Road branched off, crossed the Nomugi Pass and led to Hida Takayama. At the root of the pine in the picture is the Suzuri (Inkstone) Spring, with which Kiso Yoshinaka is said to have written a petition. The mountain in the distance is Mt. Ontake.
[240x159]37 Miyanokoshi
Miyanokoshi is rich in historic remains in connection with Kiso Yoshinaka, who spent his childhood and youth here. At the Hataage Hachimangu Shrine, Kiso Yoshinaka rose in arms and marched against the Taira (1180). In this excellent piece of work, the close-range view is silhouetted against the distant view shaded off superbly so as to express the night fog.
[240x159]38 Fukushima
Located in the middle of the Kiso Valley, Fukushima is the administrative and economic centre of this area. It was a key post town on the Kisokaido Highway having one of the four most important checking stations in the country (together with Usui, Hakone and Nii). At the middle point of the Kisokaido Highway, Fukushima bustled with people including those who were climbing Mt. Ontake for religious worship.
[240x160]39 Agematsu
In the neighbourhood of Agematsu are five of the "Eight Scenic Spots of Kiso." The picture depicts the Ono Falls, which are one of them. In the Kiso River which flows by this post town is "Nezameno-toko" with a great number of gigantic monstrously shaped rocks creating a breathtaking sight.
[240x160]40 Suhara
The tradesman's house has a street-side cover and a tank containing water drawn from a mountain stream. The place is said to be inside the compound of the famous Joshoji Temple just outside the town limits. Mendicant Zen priests wearing large braided hats are taking shelter from a sudden shower. Against the shaded background, the pelting rain seems to be creating an amusing moment for the travellers.
41 Nojiri (Eisen)
The "Seven Bends of Nojiri" were designed to protect the town against enemies. Soon after the Joshoji Temple, the Iwade Kannon at left in the picture, dubbed the Kiyomizu Temple of Kiso, comes into view. Further away, the Inagawa Bridge is visible.
[240x160]42 Mitono
From Nojiri, travellers had to pass through a narrow perilous road along the Kiso River before entering Midono. This post town was as prosperous as Tsumago, which came next. At the Tokakuji Temple, there is an image of Buddha sculpted by Enkyu, a famous priest sculptor who travelled around the country with the aim of creating 120,000 Buddhist statues. The red and white ume (apricot) flowers indicate the arrival of spring.
[240x160]43 Tsumagome
Today Tsumago is designated as an "important traditional structure group preservation area" together with Narai-shuku. From olden times, this stage was an important intersection with another highway branching to the Ina Valley. The scene is at the Magome Pass.
[240x159]44 Magome (Eisen)
There is the Magome Pass (801 m above sea level) between Tsumago and Magome, which are 8 km apart from each other. From the pass, Mt. Ena can be seen in the distance due south. The post town of Magome is below the pass. This is where Shimazaki Toson, a famous Meiji novelist, was born and is also the stage of his masterwork "Before Dawn."
[240x160]45 Ochiai
At the Jikkoku Pass, the province of Shinano ends and the province of Mino begins. Standing by the road here is a Basho monument with his haiku poem bidding farewell to Kiso. On the outskirts of the post town is the Inoji Temple famous for "Raccoon Dog's Ointment." In the picture, a daimyos procession is moving down the pass road and is about to cross the Ochiai River before entering Ochiai.
[240x161]46-1 Nakatsugawa
There are two pictures of Nakatsugawa. "Nakatsugawa on Rainy Day" with the seal of the publisher "Kinjudo" is said to have been the earlier of the two prints. This version, existing in a smaller number, has greater scarcity value. The picture is considered one of the best among Hiroshige's many rainy landscapes.
[240x159]46-2 Nakatsugawa
The regular "Rokusai" market was held here on the 3rd and 8th of each month, gathering a large number of people including those from Kiso. Nakatsugawa was the largest post town on the Kisokaido Highway, but the picture does not show that. Seen from the bridge over the Yotsume River, the town nestles smugly at the foot of a mountain. In the foreground, travellers and townspeople are walking leisurely along the highway.
[240x161]47 Oi
The post town of Oi, which was at a strategic point of traffic, is said to have formerly been Oi-eki on the ancient Tosando Highway. This picture shows the hilly Jusan Pass between Oi and Okute.
[240x160]48 Okute
Past this post town, travellers walked on a flat road along the mountain with exposed rocks. From the Biwa Pass between Okute and Hosokute, they could see Mt. Ibuki, Mt. Hakusan and the Bay of Ise far away in the distance.
[240x160]49 Hosokute
When the Kisokaido Highway was opened, the post town of Hosokute was not present. It was later added, however, because the mountain road of 16 km between Okute and Mitake was considered too long for a single leg. In this picture of a well-balanced composition, we are looking down at the entrance to the stage of Hosokute from a hilltop.
[240x160]50 Mitake
Mitake was a post town that had developed in front of the famous Gankoji Temple. To get to this station, travellers trudged along a gently-sloping mountain path. Today we can witness the vestiges of the old-time highway in the mileposts and stone-pavement slope along the road. The inn advertising itself as "Kichin-yado" (cheap lodging house) on the shoji screen served also as the Teahouse of Juppongi.
51 Fushimi
The post town of Fushimi was born about 90 years after the others. This was a busy town with a port named Niimura on the Kiso River where rice paid as land tax was loaded on the barges, which would sail downstream to Inuyama or Kuwana. During the Edo period, there were rows of pine trees along the highway.
[240x159]52 Ota
Here the Hida Road and the Gujo Road branched off from the Kisokaido Highway. Being the seat of the magistrate's office of the fief of Owari, Ota prospered as the political and economic centre controlling the area from Ena to Unuma. The Kiso River converging with the Hida River here, the river became wider and the "Crossing at Ota" was counted as one of the hardest parts to pass on the highway.
[240x159]53 Unuma (Eisen)
From Ota, travellers went past the Iwaya Kannon (Goddess of Mercy) and the Utou Pass before entering the post town of Unuma. From the Kamakura period, this had been an important point of traffic connecting Mino with Owari. The existing castle of Inuyama has the oldest dungeon in Japan, which is designated as a national treasure.
[240x160]54 Kano
From Unuma to Kano, the road was flat. The distance between the stages was as long as 17 km. With the Castle of Kano, this post town was the sole castle town on the Mino leg of the Kisokaido Hiroshige painted a well-ordered feudal lord (daimyos) procession here.
[240x159]55 Kodo (Eisen)
At Goudo, there was a ferry for crossing the Nagara River. The picture depicts a scene of cormorant bird fishing, which is famous even today. Eisen introduced brush touch into the print, imitating the style of Katsushika Hokusai. This is considered one of Eisen's masterpieces in the Kiso Highway Series.
[240x160]56 Miyeji
The name of a temple became the name of this post town. The Mieji Temple is said to have been built to offer prayers for protection from the flooding of the three major rivers of Kiso, Nagara and Ibi. In this lyrical scene, a traveller is in conversation with a peasant, and sparrows are flying home in the dusk after sunset.
[240x160]57 Akasaka
Akasaka was a bustling post town as the diverging point of the Tanigumi Pilgrimage Road and as the port of Akasaka for river traffic on the Kuise. All-night lantern posts still remain along the river, which lighted the waterway at night. In the evening during the rainy season, people are said to have enjoyed the sight of Genji fireflies (Luciola cruciata) while sailing down the river in firefly-viewing boats.
[240x160]58 Tarui
The Mino Road branched off here and led to Miya-shuku on the Tokaido Highway. Tarui grew in front of the Grand Shrine of Nangu, which was the most famous of the shrines in the province of Mino. A daimyo procession placed in the centre, the composition of this picture is symmetrical.
[240x160]59 Sekigahara
Sekigahara was a major post town at the crossroads of the Kisokaido, Hokkoku and Ise Highways. The place name came from "Fuwa-no-seki" (Checking Station of Fuwa), one of the three most important checkpoints in old Japan, ranking with Arachi of Echizen province and Suzuka of Ise province. This is also the place where the famous Battle of Sekigahara was fought between the eastern and western armies in 1600.
[240x160]60 Imasu
The signpost reads "Oumi-Mino Border" marking the border between the province of Oumi to the west and the province of Mino to the east. The sign "Nemonogatari-yurai" may have something to do with the popular "Mino Oumi Nemonogatari (Soft Nothings)" written by Jippensha Ikku (1775-1831).
61 Kashiwabara
From here on, the Kisokaido Highway runs through the province of Oumi. Kashiwabara is well-known as the producing center of moxa used in moxa cautery (a kind of Oriental medical treatment). Apparently, the stores in the picture deal in medical herbs. The signs "Kintoki Rice Cake" and "Sake and Refreshments" mean the diversified operation of the store. The store under the style of "Kameya" is still operating as "Ibukido" today.
[240x159]62 Samegai
Samegai has the famous sights of "Three Waters and Four Rocks." The Three Waters are the spring water of Isame, the Juo-sui water and the Saigyo-sui water, and the Four Rocks are the Yamatotakeru-no-mikoto Koshikake rock, the Kurakake (Saddle Hanging) rock, the Kani (Crab) rock and the Myojin Yoko rock. The scene depicts the neighborhood the Six Teahouses where daimyo processions often stopped to take a rest.
[240x160]63 Banba
A little over 3 km from Samekai is the post town of Banba. This is an honest rendering of the post town itself, a rare case among the Kiso Highway Series pictures. "Iseya" written on a signboard under the eaves is the business name of the print publisher, and "Utagawa" is advertising Utagawa Hiroshige himself.
[240x160]64 Toriimoto
The name of Toriimoto came from the torii (Shinto shrine archway) of the Grand Shrine of Taga in Takamiya. Though the Kisokaido Highway (Oumi Road) always ran some distance away from Lake Biwa, the sight of the lake in the distance from the Surihari Pass was a scenic masterpiece.
[240x160]65 Takamiya
Takamiya prospered as a post town near the Grand Shrine of Taga dedicated to the god of longevity. This town was also known as the producing center of hemp cloth in Takamiya stripes. This picture is a realistic landscape of the post town and the mountain range of Suzuka in the middle braced by a large pine tree on each side.
[240x160]66 Echigawa
The river is the Echi River, and the bridge is the Miyuki Bridge today. The signpost reading "Toll Free" may indicate that people could cross this bridge without charge because it was one installed there temporarily. On the opposite side of the river is Mt. Kannonji (Kinugake) at left, and beyond it are the remains of Azuchi Castle.
[240x160]67 Musa
On a flat land with an abundance of waters and greenery, travelers went on their way much more easily around the post town of Musa. They are now crossing a makeshift bridge made of two riverboats tied together across a stream in the Hino River.
[240x159]68 Moriyama
In the picture is a series of tea houses near the post town of Moriyama. The mountain beyond may be Mt. Mikami, which is called "Mt. Fuji of Oumi." This is a spring-time highway scene with cherry blossoms in full bloom. With only two stages remaining on the Kiso Highway, travel is nearing its end.
[240x159]69 Kusatsu
Kusatsu was the post town where the Kiso Highway and the Tokaido Highway converged. A threesome of women in light travel attire are walking away, chatting with each other. A young wife with a towel wrapped around her head is crossing a small bridge, a parasol on a shoulder and a caller's present in one hand.
[240x160]70 Otsu
Otsu is the final stage on the Kisokaido Highway. This town has many slopes. From the busy "Hatcho-dori" street, Lake Biwa is visible in the distance. Kyoto is just beyond the hill of Ousaka. The signboard reading "Zen" means that this picture completes the series of Kiso Highway ukiyoe prints.