Cristina Berna: Hiroshige Kunisada Kuniyoshi 53 Pairings of the Tokaido

This series, Fifty-three Pairings of the Tokaido Road, T¿kaid¿ goj¿san tsui, ¿¿¿¿¿¿¿,popularly called Pairs T¿kaid¿ or 53 Parallels for the Tokaido Road, was published in 1845-1846. It is a unique cooperation between three artists: Utagawa Hiroshige, Utagawa Kunisada and Utagawa Kuniyoshi and five publishers: Ibaya Ky¿bei, (Ibaya Senzaburô (Dansendô)) and Kojimaya Jûbei, Enshûya Matabei, Ebiya Rinnosuke (Kaijudô) and Iseya Ichibei. The special feature of this "Pairs T¿kaid¿" is the pairing of a print for each station with a legend, a wonderful, dramatic, historic or supranatural story. These stories are told partly by the print theme, partly by accompanying text in a cartouche. Sometimes there is a poem. It is a very enjoyable tour!