• Shōno (庄野): The Kumano Shrine and the Shiratori Grave Mound (Kumano no yashiro - 熊野ノ社, Shiratori-zuka - 白鳥塚); Women Travellers (<i>Onna tabibito</i>), from the series <i>The Fifty-three Stations</i> [<i>of the Tōkaidō Road</i>] <i>by Two Brushes</i> (<i>Sōhitsu gojūsan tsugi</i> - 双筆五十三次)
Shōno (庄野): The Kumano Shrine and the Shiratori Grave Mound (Kumano no yashiro - 熊野ノ社, Shiratori-zuka - 白鳥塚); Women Travellers (<i>Onna tabibito</i>), from the series <i>The Fifty-three Stations</i> [<i>of the Tōkaidō Road</i>] <i>by Two Brushes</i> (<i>Sōhitsu gojūsan tsugi</i> - 双筆五十三次)
Shōno (庄野): The Kumano Shrine and the Shiratori Grave Mound (Kumano no yashiro - 熊野ノ社, Shiratori-zuka - 白鳥塚); Women Travellers (<i>Onna tabibito</i>), from the series <i>The Fifty-three Stations</i> [<i>of the Tōkaidō Road</i>] <i>by Two Brushes</i> (<i>Sōhitsu gojūsan tsugi</i> - 双筆五十三次)
Shōno (庄野): The Kumano Shrine and the Shiratori Grave Mound (Kumano no yashiro - 熊野ノ社, Shiratori-zuka - 白鳥塚); Women Travellers (<i>Onna tabibito</i>), from the series <i>The Fifty-three Stations</i> [<i>of the Tōkaidō Road</i>] <i>by Two Brushes</i> (<i>Sōhitsu gojūsan tsugi</i> - 双筆五十三次)
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Utagawa Hiroshige (歌川広重) (artist 1797 – 1858)
Utagawa Kunisada (歌川国貞) / Toyokuni III (三代豊国) (artist 1786 – 01/12/1865)

Shōno (庄野): The Kumano Shrine and the Shiratori Grave Mound (Kumano no yashiro - 熊野ノ社, Shiratori-zuka - 白鳥塚); Women Travellers (Onna tabibito), from the series The Fifty-three Stations [of the Tōkaidō Road] by Two Brushes (Sōhitsu gojūsan tsugi - 双筆五十三次)

Print

08/1855
9.5 in x 14.25 in (Overall dimensions) Japanese woodblock print
Signatures - above: Hiroshige hitsu (廣重筆)
Artist's seal: Hiro
below: Toyokuni ga (豊国画)
Publisher: Maruya Kyūshirō
Carver: Hori Take (彫竹)
Censor's seal: aratame
Date seal: Hare 8 - 8/1855
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Tokyo Metropolitan Library - later edition of this print with a green ground at the bottom and no pronounced woodgrain sky at the top
National Diet Library
British Museum - a completely different 1855 Hiroshige view of this site
Google maps - the Shōno station area
Museum Rietberg What is the significance of the Shiratori-zuka {白鳥塚} seen in the background of the upper left of this print?

The Shiratori-zuka is a tumulus or artificial hill built over the burial site of the supposedly legendary early Japanese hero Yamato Takeru no mikoto (日本武尊). E. Papinot in the Historical and Geographical Dictionary of Japan called Yamato Takeru as "...the most famous hero of legendary times." He is mentioned in the Kojiki (古事記), the oldest written history in Japan from 712 A.D., the Nihon-shoki (日本書紀) from ca. 720, and many early fudoki (風土記) or cultural and geographical guides. One of the younger sons of the emperor Keikō, he was first known as Ousu-no-mikoto (小碓命) and then as Yamato Oguna (倭男具那).

Being of a violent nature, he killed his older brother. At the age of 16 he was sent to fight the Kumaso (熊襲) in the south of Kyūshū. At a banquet Yamato Takeru arrived disguised as a young woman. After his enemies had gotten drunk he slayed them. As soon as he returned home he was sent on another mission to subdue other rebels. He succeeded there too, but on his way back he died, possibly at the age of 33, at Nobono (能褒野) in the province of Ise. In one account, at the time of his death he transformed into a white swan (白鳥) and flew away. That is why his burial mound is called Shiratori-zuka or the Swan Mound. Of course, if he flew away, that begs the question of who is buried there? But that is for greater minds than ours to figure out. Then again, if he did not turn into a swan and fly away until after his burial that is a whole other matter.

Another Japanese website gives a variant assessment. In a loose translation it says: "Yamato Takeru was bitten on the leg by a snake at the foot of Mt. Ibuki on his way to conquer bandits on Mt. Ibuki. His wound was very painful, and as he was washing his feet in the river, a swan appeared. Yamato Takeru asked Shiratori to take him to Owari. The swan carrying Yamato Takeru died when it reached the foot of Mt. Higashitani in Owari. Yamato Takeru buried a swan there, and the grave is said to be Shiratorizuka.'

The tumulus was probably built in the 4th century. In 1899 the Meiji Department of Education designated it as the tomb of Yamato Takeru, but that designation has been changed through the years. It was named a national historic site in 1972. One website says that it "...was located [in the Takamiya area] between the post towns of Ishiyakushi-juku and Shono-juku on the Tokaido, and was a frequent stop for travelers on their way to the capital and Ise." It can be found near the Kamano shrine, as can be seen in this print.

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This is number 46 from this series of 55 prints - despite the title of the series.

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There is another edition of this print where the ground below and around the two Kunisada figures is printed in green.

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Illustrated in color in Kunisada's Tōkaidō: Riddles in Japanese Woodblock Prints by Andreas Marks, Hotei Publishing, 2013, page 198, #T79-46.

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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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Please click on the image to enlarge it so you can see the dramatic woodgrain printing of the gray sky of the landscape portion designed by Hiroshige.
Maruya Kyūshirō (丸屋久四郎) (publisher)
beautiful woman picture (bijin-ga - 美人画) (genre)
landscape prints (fūkeiga 風景画) (genre)
Yokokawa Takejirō (横川彫武) (carver)