'Lake Ashi at Hakone' - woodblock print by Ando Hiroshige

       

I was excited to pick up over the weekend a small book of wooblock prints by Japanese artist Ando Hiroshige (1797-1858) describing the Tokaido: the fifty-five 'stations' on the famous 'scenic route' from Edo (Tokyo) to Kyoto celebrated by artists, and poets like Matsuo Basho. 

This is station eleven, looking down on Lake Ashi at Hakone.  The climb here was considered one of the journey's most strenuous -- travellers can be seen making their way up the pass at bottom right -- but the reward was with this glorious view and the promise of the seven hot springs of Hakone.  The easy simplicity of Hiroshige's style can be seen, and the compositional principle of 'balanced asymmetry' common to many Japanese wood block artists.