Warabi: Ferry Crossing on the Toda River
c. 1835–36 · Woodblock print; ink and colour on paper · National Diet Library, Tokyo
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About this work
- Artist
- Keisai Eisen (1790–1848)
- Year
- c. 1835–36
- Medium
- Woodblock print; ink and colour on paper
- Original size
- approx. 23 × 35 cm (horizontal ōban)
- Collection
- National Diet Library, Tokyo (impression pid 1306263, call no. 寄別2-2-1-5; many other impressions exist)
- Movement
- Ukiyo-e
- Series
- Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaidō
A flat ferry boat crowded with travellers and a horse crosses the pale blue Toda River, the boatman at the stern leaning hard on his long pole. White cranes fly low over the water, and dark blue bands of cloud stretch across a cream sky above the far bank, where pack horses and figures gather by thatched huts under twisted pines. This is print three of The Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaidō, published by Hōeidō and later Kinjudō, c. 1835–36. Keisai Eisen, who designed it, began the series and Utagawa Hiroshige completed it. Warabi was the second station on the Nakasendō, the inland road from Edo to Kyoto; impressions vary in colour and condition.
This print reproduces the whole work, uncropped, from a high-resolution scan of the original. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
River blue, dark indigo cloud and cream sky with a crowded brown ferry, for a living room, study or hallway at 24×16 in natural wood. It pairs with Kawasaki: The Rokugō Ferry from Hiroshige's Tōkaidō for two river crossings out of Edo.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Ukiyo-e painting
- Era
- 19th century (c. 1835–36)
- Orientation
- Landscape
- Mood
- calm
- Rooms
- living room, hallway or entryway, study or library, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 24×16. Prints at 18×12, 24×16 in — 18×12 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 24×16 above a console or sideboard.
Framing. The gallery ground is part of the print, so frame it without a mat — natural wood flatters the lighter palette; black sharpens it.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is Warabi: Ferry Crossing on the Toda River in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was Warabi: Ferry Crossing on the Toda River painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
An exhibition poster
The same artwork as a gallery exhibition poster — title, artist & date typeset beneath the image on a soft ground.




























