The wave, along the road. Mount Fuji: mobility & power from Edo to Tokyo

Join us for our sixth talk in the series The Floating World: People and Landscapes in Edo entitled The wave, along the road, and Mount Fuji: mobility and power from Edo to Tokyo

This talk examines how movement shaped both the rise of Edo, one of the world’s largest early modern cities, and its transformation into modern Tokyo.

It considers how the presence of the shoguns and the vibrant culture of the townspeople influenced everyday life and how, after the restoration of imperial rule in 1868, Japan embraced and integrated new technologies, styles, and fashions.

Focusing on works by Hokusai, Hiroshige, and their successors, the lecture explores how artists depicted the transition from Edo to Tokyo and identifies the main features of this transformation. With Mount Fuji as a constant visual anchor, it traces how mobility operated both as an instrument of Tokugawa control and as a catalyst of change in Meiji Japan (1868-1912).