There are at least 17 Tokaido series by Hiroshige, starting with the “Great Tokaido” in 1834. The “Kyoka” Tokaido was the second Tokaido series. It was published by Sanoki in the late 1830's. The complete set consists of 56 woodblock prints. The prints are chuban size, which is smaller than the larger oban size. This series is known as the "Kyoka Tokaido" because each print has a kyoka, a short comic poem printed on it. I find this series more intimate because the smaller format pulls the viewer into the scene, like unstaged snapshots. Below are prints in our permanent collection. I have spent years trying to collect the best quality prints from the first printed series. You can see the red Sanoki publisher's seal on most of our prints. The prints are in order, captioned with the station name. You can also see images of the handful we are still searching for. Note: The prints in this collection below are not for sale BUT we have some duplicates for sale if you do a search for prints from Hiroshige. Also, if you want an excellent translation of the amusing Kyoka poems please check out Maki Mishima's excellent eBook on Amazon.com.
