The Bitter End

Art of the Edo Period

The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido

15. Kanbara-juku (Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka)

Kanbara-juku

Kanbara-juku was the fifteenth of the fifty-three stations of the Tokaido. It is located in what is now part of the Shimizu-ku ward of Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It is one of four former post stations located in Shimizu-ku.

History

The original Kanbara-juku was decimated by a flood in the early part of the Edo period, but was rebuilt shortly thereafter.

The classic ukiyoe print by Ando Hiroshige (Hoeido edition) from 1831-1834, depicts a mountain village at nightfall, through which three people are struggling under deep snow. It is a rather strange composition, as Kanbara is located in a very temperate area warmed by the Kuroshio current offshore, and even a light snowfall is extremely rare.