A Study on the Travel Mobility Represented on the Visual Culture in the Edo Period: Focusing on the OSMU and Locality

This paper explores the possibilities of various types of actual and virtual travel mobility as depicted in Ukiyo–e landscape prints and E–Sugoroku. Ukiyo–e, which served as a visual medium of the Edo Period, captures the moments of movement extracted from mobility analysis through imagery. In a context similar to contemporary visual media, this study examines various examples of transmedia storytelling and the dissolution of narrative boundaries in Ukiyo–e landscape prints and E–Sugoroku, particularly through the work Tōkaidōchū Hizakurige (1802–1814). This work generated numerous adaptations, allowing Edo commoners to encounter places beyond the confines of their everyday lives. Through the two aforementioned media, this paper investigates the imagined destinations of travel and the trajectories of such imaginative mobility, revealing that practical information was often embedded within these visual journeys. Meanwhile, in the case of Kuniyoshi, his series focused on regional locations and the daily lives of local residents, offering readers the “Tourist Gaze”. This approach suggests a point of reconsideration for contemporary creators of regional cultural content—encouraging the development of dynamic and mutable spaces rather than fixed ones. By tracing the transmedia practices found in early modern Japanese visual culture, this study also sheds light on the potential for reimagining the Edo Period traditions, revitalizing local content, and exploring diverse visualizations of literary texts.