What is Hiroshige blue?

A deep blue used in his skies and water

Hiroshige Quiz: The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido Road

This Hiroshige quiz walks the Tokaido road from Edo to Kyoto in Utagawa Hiroshige's famous prints. Play 10 interactive questions on the series of the 1830s, the 53 post stations plus start and end, weather and seasons, travelers and porters, One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, the rain-soaked bridge copied by Van Gogh, Hiroshige blue and his family job as a fire warden.

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🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Artist
Who made The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido?
Road
Which two cities did the Tokaido connect?
Count
How many prints are in the main series?
Decade
When was the series published?
Subjects
What do the prints often show?
Edo
Which later series shows famous places in Edo?
Rain
Which Hiroshige print did Van Gogh copy?
Blue
What is Hiroshige blue?
Job
What was his family's hereditary job?
Type
What kind of art did Hiroshige make?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: Who made The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido?
Answer: Utagawa Hiroshige
He was a landscape master.
Q2: Which two cities did the Tokaido connect?
Answer: Edo and Kyoto
Edo is now Tokyo.
Q3: How many prints are in the main series?
Answer: 55
It includes the start and end points.
Q4: When was the series published?
Answer: The 1830s
It made Hiroshige famous.
Q5: What do the prints often show?
Answer: Travelers, weather and seasons
Rain, snow and mist appear.
Q6: Which later series shows famous places in Edo?
Answer: One Hundred Famous Views of Edo
It came in the 1850s.
Q7: Which Hiroshige print did Van Gogh copy?
Answer: Sudden Shower over Shin-Ohashi Bridge
Van Gogh painted it in 1887.
Q8: What is Hiroshige blue?
Answer: A deep blue used in his skies and water
It came from Prussian blue.
Q9: What was his family's hereditary job?
Answer: Fire warden
He inherited the post young.
Q10: What kind of art did Hiroshige make?
Answer: Woodblock prints
They were sold cheaply.

Life Along Japan's Great Road

Utagawa Hiroshige was a master of Japanese landscape woodblock prints. His family held the hereditary job of fire warden in Edo, but he trained as an artist. In the 1830s he published The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido, the road linking Edo, now Tokyo, and Kyoto.

The series of 55 prints includes all 53 post stations plus the start and end points. It shows travelers, porters and horses in rain, snow, mist and moonlight, capturing seasons and everyday life. Its success made Hiroshige famous.

In the 1850s he created One Hundred Famous Views of Edo. Vincent van Gogh copied its Sudden Shower over Shin-Ohashi Bridge in 1887. Hiroshige's deep blues, made with Prussian blue, became so associated with him that people speak of Hiroshige blue.

What This Quiz Teaches

Art fans will enjoy these questions.

Who Hiroshige was
What the Tokaido is
What the prints show
Which series came later
How he influenced Europe

Did You Know?

Prints were sold like postcards.
Different editions exist.
Hokusai was his rival.
Snow at Kambara is a favorite print.
He died in 1858.