• Hakone (箱根): Nakamura Shikan IV (四代目中村芝翫) as Kō no Moronao (高師直) from the series <i>The Tōkaidō Road: One Look Worth a Thousand Ryō</i> (<i>Tōkaidō hitome senryō</i> - 東海道一ト眼千両 - <i>Yojiba no zu</i> 湯冶場ノ図 - 'Picture of the Hot Springs')
Hakone (箱根): Nakamura Shikan IV (四代目中村芝翫) as Kō no Moronao (高師直) from the series <i>The Tōkaidō Road: One Look Worth a Thousand Ryō</i> (<i>Tōkaidō hitome senryō</i> - 東海道一ト眼千両 - <i>Yojiba no zu</i> 湯冶場ノ図 - 'Picture of the Hot Springs')
Hakone (箱根): Nakamura Shikan IV (四代目中村芝翫) as Kō no Moronao (高師直) from the series <i>The Tōkaidō Road: One Look Worth a Thousand Ryō</i> (<i>Tōkaidō hitome senryō</i> - 東海道一ト眼千両 - <i>Yojiba no zu</i> 湯冶場ノ図 - 'Picture of the Hot Springs')
Hakone (箱根): Nakamura Shikan IV (四代目中村芝翫) as Kō no Moronao (高師直) from the series <i>The Tōkaidō Road: One Look Worth a Thousand Ryō</i> (<i>Tōkaidō hitome senryō</i> - 東海道一ト眼千両 - <i>Yojiba no zu</i> 湯冶場ノ図 - 'Picture of the Hot Springs')
Hakone (箱根): Nakamura Shikan IV (四代目中村芝翫) as Kō no Moronao (高師直) from the series <i>The Tōkaidō Road: One Look Worth a Thousand Ryō</i> (<i>Tōkaidō hitome senryō</i> - 東海道一ト眼千両 - <i>Yojiba no zu</i> 湯冶場ノ図 - 'Picture of the Hot Springs')
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Toyohara Kunichika (豊原国周) (artist 1835 – 1900)
Utagawa Hiroshige III (artist 1842 – 1894)

Hakone (箱根): Nakamura Shikan IV (四代目中村芝翫) as Kō no Moronao (高師直) from the series The Tōkaidō Road: One Look Worth a Thousand Ryō (Tōkaidō hitome senryō - 東海道一ト眼千両 - Yojiba no zu 湯冶場ノ図 - 'Picture of the Hot Springs')

Print

02/1867
9.5 in x 13.5 in (Overall dimensions) Japanese color woodblock print
Signatures: Kunichika hitsu (国周筆)
and Hiroshige hitsu (廣重筆)
Publisher: Iseya Kanekichi
(Marks 145 - seal 21-059)
Combined date/censor seal: 3/1867 and aratame
Waseda University
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Google maps - Tonosawa hot springs, Hakone
British Museum - 1830s Hiroshige I print of same scene from a different view
Hakone Town Local Museum (via Cultural Heritage Online) Hiroshige III designed the landscape with the ryokan. Note the pun of 'one look is worth a 1,000 ryō'. Kunichika designed the actor bust portrait. Next to the Hiroshige signature is 湯冶場 (Yujiba no zu.- Pictures of the Hotsprings).

There are 7 prints from this series in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Of course, there are quite a few others scattered through numerous collections. In each case the head of a famous actor being portrayed appears just above the horizon line of the landscapes in the background shown in the upper half of the print. To this viewer's eye, this is not only one of the most striking prints in this series, but is also one of the most striking prints in all of the Lyon Collection. It doesn't hurt that the colors are so astoundingly fresh. (JSV)

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According to Cultural Heritage online Kō no Moronao is holding a love letter.

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The original Tōkaidō was established by the Kamakura bakufu (1192-1333) to run from Kamakura to the imperial capital of Kyoto.

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Illustrated in a small color reproduction in Kunisada's Tokaido: Riddles in Japanese Woodblock Prints by Andreas Marks, Hotei Publishing, 2013, page 298, T57.
Iseya Kanekichi (伊勢屋兼吉) (publisher)
actor prints (yakusha-e - 役者絵) (genre)
landscape prints (fūkeiga 風景画) (genre)
Meiji era (明治時代: 1868-1912) (genre)
Nakamura Shikan IV (四代目中村芝翫: 7/1860 to January 1899) (actor)