Nature & Views

The road from Edo to Kyoto, one station at a time. Rain on the bridge at Shono. Mount Fuji, when the cloud allows.

Japanese woodblock prints of nature and views run from Meiji kacho-e to the 1946 Ranka-fu orchid series. The Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido follow the great road. Bamboo, red peony, lantern plants at night and birds and flowers by a stream belong to the old bird-and-flower tradition. A firefly series pairs the insect with dragons, lions, fish and the gods of wind and thunder, and Mount Fuji and Urashima’s dragon palace appear in the Zuihitsu series. Ranka-fu reproduces the orchids of brewer Shotaro Kaga after paintings by Ikeda Zuigetsu, printed so finely the sheets pass for watercolor.

Soft grounds and gold suit a garden room.

Even the fireflies kept to the schedule.