ALLEN MEMORIAL ART MUSEUM 25 Left: UtagawaHiroshige I 初代目歌川広重 (Japanese, 1797–1858) Ōtsu: Hashirii Teahouse, no. 54 fromthe series Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō, ca. 1833 Color woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper MaryA. AinsworthBequest,1950, 1950.845 Ōtsu was the last stop on the Tōkaidō before reaching Kyoto. Here, heavy loads could be transferred onto ox carts to be moved into the city. In this print, we can see three carts piled high with products from the countryside: rice bales in the first cart and piles of charcoal in the second two. Charcoal was preferred in the cities for heating and cooking because it didn’t smoke as much as hardwoods. Making charcoal was another big cottage industry for rural people.
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