Masterworks of Ukiyo-e: Hiroshige: Tokaido [first edition]

The Tokaido was one of the Five Routes constructed under Tokugawa Ieyasu, a series of roads linking the historical capital of Edo with the rest of Japan. The Tokaido connected Edo with the then-capital of Kyoto. The most important and well-traveled of these, the Tokaido travelled along the eastern coast of Honshu, thus giving rise to the name Tokaido ("Eastern Sea Road"). Along this road, there were 53 different post stations, which provided stables, food, and lodging for travelers. The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido was such a popular subject that it led Hiroshige to create some 30 different series of woodcut prints on it. Book of plates of the ukiyo-e Japanese prints.