An original antique Japanese woodblock print by esteemed artist Utagawa (Ikkosai) Yoshimori. The image depicts a royal procession traveling on the remarkable Tōkaidō Road. Civillians can be seen kneeling down for the procession as they pass by. The background includes a mountainous sunset among a sea of blue-roof houses. Could be a scene of Shogun Yoritomo visiting Kyoto, as Yoshimori has other similar works depicting this notable event. Artists seal is in the ower left corner in red and black ink. Matted and framed in a gold gilt bamboo frame under glass, overall dimensions approximately 19''x 15''. Size of visible imige within mat is approximately 13.75'' x 9.5''. Print in great condition with vivid coloring and incredible detail. Some small creases in the paper due to age. Not inspected out of frame. Please review all images.

Family and Given name: Taguchi (originally Miki) 三 木  Sakuzō 田 口作蔵; gō: Ikkōsai 一光斎, Kōsai 光斎, Kuniharu 国晴, Sakurabō さくら坊, Yoshimori 芳盛.

Little is known about the life of Yoshimori, other than he was born Taguchi Sakuzō in 1830 and died in either 1884 or 1885.  He was a student of Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798-1861), one of the most successful woodblock print designers in Edo, and used multiple artist names as listed above.  He lived in the Edo districts of Shitayashirokoji (now Uenohirokoji) and then moved to Ikenohatakayacho.  Some sources, including the above referenced wikipedia Japan site, say that he was a member of the Japanese Diet and resigned either in 1884 or 1885.  Other sources make no mention of this.  Towards the end of his life he moved to Yokohama.

He designed both woodblock prints and illustrated books.  As well as producing images of Yokohama, he designed kachoga1, musha-e, yokohyama-e, giga and works of political satire.  He contributed over a dozen prints to the famous series Scenes of Famous Places along the Tōkaidō Road (Tōkaidō meisho fūkei), also known as the Processional Tōkaidō (Gyōretsu Tōkaidō.)  The influence of Kuniyoshi is clear in many of his works. He designed over thirty books, many of them song and humorous poetry books.