Station Forty-Eight: Seki, Early Departure from the Headquarters Inn, from the Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido

Station Forty-Eight: Seki, Early Departure from the Headquarters Inn, from the Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido

Utagawa Hiroshige

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

At dawn, a daimyō's procession leaves the inn in Seki, a government checkpoint in Ise Province. A palanquin stands ready behind the master of the inn, and a few bearers still have time to enjoy their smokes. White banners, probably with a daimyo's crest, hang around the inn. Among the advertisement labels behind the master of the inn are those for the famous Senjokō and Bijokō brands of face powder.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Station Forty-Eight: Seki, Early Departure from the Headquarters Inn, from the Fifty-Three Stations of the TokaidoStation Forty-Eight: Seki, Early Departure from the Headquarters Inn, from the Fifty-Three Stations of the TokaidoStation Forty-Eight: Seki, Early Departure from the Headquarters Inn, from the Fifty-Three Stations of the TokaidoStation Forty-Eight: Seki, Early Departure from the Headquarters Inn, from the Fifty-Three Stations of the TokaidoStation Forty-Eight: Seki, Early Departure from the Headquarters Inn, from the Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.