Fujisawa Illustrated in Ukiyo-e

ukiyoe

Kunisada Utagawa

Prospered as the station town of the Tokaido Highway, Fujisawa attracted many people from Edo (Tokyo) as the town, where the head Buddhism temple of Ji-sect Yugyoji Temple resides. The town also invited many people as an entrance town for “Enoshima Island” and “Mt. Oyama”, the destinations were for both religious and resort purposes. In the late Edo period, as travel became extremely popular, the series Fifty-three stations of the Tokaido that illustrated the famous places and post stations along the highway were published, and Fujisawa post station was also illustrated in variety of ways.

The representative famous locations and landmarks beside the Fujisawa post station were The head Buddhism temple of Ji-sect, Shojokoji Temple (more familiar name is Yugyoji), Yugyoji Bridge (old Daigiri Bridge) and the first Torii gate which was the entrance to Enoshima Island (Enoshima Shrine) that stood beside the bridge, and Yotsuya’s Tateba (the rest spot between stations) at the entrance of the Oyama road, the approach to Mt. Oyama from Tokaido highway.