Great Tokaido - Utagawa Hiroshige

The series of the 53 stations of the Tokaido Road are one of the main and most brilliant works of Utagawa Hiroshige. In former times most visitors reached Edo (Tokyo) on foot, travelling along one of the country's five major highways. The most famous is the Eastern Sea Road (Tōkaidō), which runs for 500 kilometres between Edo and Kyoto. Its 53 main stations and numerous intermediate stations were equipped with a variety of inns, restaurants and stables. Large cryptomeria trees planted at regular intervals provide shade, and wheeled vehicles are prohibited, so the road's surface was usually smooth.
Today most of the old trail has been swallowed up by National Route No. 1, also known as the Tokaidō Highway - a motorway with no pedestrian walkway. Nowaldays many bits of the road are quite urban.
Music: Suno.com
Design: Jürgen Wagner