The Great Way
by Christopher Mosdell
The Great Way embodies the Tokaido, the vast throughfare that stretched between Edo (modern Tokyo) and the ancient capital of Kyoto. On its course were fifty-three “stations” or lodgings that the ukiyo-e artist Utagawa Hiroshige depicted in his famous series of prints.
The Great Way embodies the Tokaido, the vast throughfare that stretched between Edo (modern Tokyo) and the ancient capital of Kyoto. On its course were fifty-three “stations” or lodgings that the ukiyo-e artist Utagawa Hiroshige depicted in his famous series of prints.
In Mosdell’s quest for new rhythmic arenas he employs these stations as loci on an emblematic journey of discovery. He details the landscape, the cultural milieu of the populace and the socio-vicissitudes taking place along the route. He inhabits the minds of the ever-moving throng travelling the highway. In parallel to this he becomes the voice of the “biwa hoshi”, the blind monk-musicians who recited the oral history of Japan with their tales of epic battles and a gamut of the country’s heroic characters.
The Great Way is a pilgrimage of “moth-like destinies hurling themselves into an enormous gulf.” A majestic migration. The pulse of the nation, and a personal journey for each reader.
The second edition of the trilogy: Sho Chiku Bai
(pine/bamboo/plum: steadfastness/perseverance/resilience)
Published by Edokko Editions, 2025
