[琉球解語 嘉永刊全広重画] / Commentary on Ryukyu, Kaei Era publication with Artwork by Hiroshige

This booklet contains information about Ryukyu obtained from Ryukyuan envoys on their mission to Edo. From topics like official ranks, annual events, Ryukyuan theater, and a drawing of a seesaw, the booklet includes fifteen short commentaries with illustrations. Under Satsuma rule, Ryukyuan envoys called keigashi and shaonshi were dispatched to Edo when there was a new Tokugawa shōgun or Ryukyu king. These diplomatic missions were called Edo-dachi and occurred a total of eighteen times beginning in 1634 (for Shō Hō’s accession as king, and Iemitsu’s inauguration as shōgun) until 1850 (for Shō Tai’s accession as king). These missions had a great influence on Ryukyuan culture, but also had a strong impact on how the Japanese perceived Ryukyu. Many poetry books and pictures of the Ryukyuan processions were published in Edo and Kyoto, such as this booklet. Ichiryūsai is the pseudonym of Hiroshige Utagawa (also known as Hiroshige Andō)—a well-known ukiyo-e artist of the late Edo period.