Kozuka with Mt. Fuji and the 53 Stations of the Tôkaidô

Description A depiction of Mt. Fuji fills the front of the kozuka. The peak is often covered in snow, represented here in silver. On the reverse is a list in gold inlay of the fifty-three stations of the Tôkaidô road between Edo (now Tokyo) and Kyoto. Below each station name is the distance to the next station. On the bottom half of the reverse side is a landscape scene. This may be Amanohashidate in northern Kyoto prefecture. The view of the sand bar covered with pines at Amanohashidate is considered one of the three great views in Japan.

Provenance Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquistion unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Inscriptions [Date] 維時天保十二稔辛丑仲冬[ ]; [Transliteration] iji (?) Tenpô jyû ni nen kanoto ushi chûtô [ ]; [Translation] 1841, year of the ox, 11th month; [Signature] 雲陽壽岳軒谷元貞彫之; [Transliteration] Unyô Jugakuken Tani Motosada horu kore; [Translation] Unyô Jugakuken Tani Motosada carved this

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters