The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of December 22, 2025
Seki, from the series The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō
c. 1848–49
(Japanese, 1797–1858)
Sheet: 24.8 x 37.5 cm (9 3/4 x 14 3/4 in.)
Bequest of Edward L. Whittemore 1930.186
Location: Not on view
Description
This print from one of Hiroshige’s later Tōkaidō series completely reconceives the scene at Seki. An earlier series showed an entourage of a daimyō, preparing to leave an inn, but this view plunges the station into the depths of a dark winter. Daimyō were regional military rulers during Japan’s Edo period. As the central government required them to live in the capital, Edo, in alternating years, daimyō processions along the Tōkaidō thoroughfare were a frequent sight. This print, however, emphasizes the pilgrimage route to Japan’s principal site of religious worship, the Ise Shrine, indicated by the traditional red gate to the shrine.- (S. H. Mori, Chicago, IL, sold to Edward L. Whittemore)?-1930Edward L. Whittemore [1862-1930], Cleveland, OH, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art1930-The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Japanese Gallery 235 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (January 2-July 9, 2018).Japanese Woodblock Prints: Themes and Techniques. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (September 3-October 19, 1980).Japanese Woodblock Prints: Themes and Techniques. The Cleveland Museum of Art Education Department, Cleveland, OH (1980).Japanese Prints from the Museum Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 5-October 28, 1934).
- {{cite web|title=Seki, from the series The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō|url=false|author=Utagawa Hiroshige|year=c. 1848–49|access-date=22 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1930.186