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Utagawa Hiroshige (歌川 広重) (1797 – 12 October 1858) (real name: 安藤 広重 /Ando Hiroshige) is probably the most famous ukiyoe/woodblock print artist when it comes to describing travel scenes in Japan. Prints of the fifty-three stations immediately come to mind when it comes to Shizuoka Prefecture where a museum is dedicated to him in Yui, Shimizu Ku, Shizuoka. And if you look carefully you will find them represented in the most unusual places!

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Now, take the Tokaido Railway Line and get off at Shin Kambara Station in Shizuoka City, Shimizu Ku

The place is famous for its cherry trees. Did you know that the cherry trees offered to the US in Washington are all the scions of a single tree from nearby Okitsu, Shimizu Ku, Shizuoka.

 

Travelers of yore added onto one of Utagawa Hiroshige’s prints

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

Now go the pavement along the station and you will discover the world of Edo at your feet

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

Find this print’s set of tiles and proceed to its left to discover them all in their right order

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

Leaving Edo : Nihonbashi, “the bridge of Japan”. It is still in present Tokyo!

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

1st station : Shinagawa

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

Now, we enter Kanagawa Prefecture: Kawasaki

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

3rd station: Kanagawa (presently in Kanagawa Ku, Yokohama City)

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

4th station: Hodogaya (presently in Hodogaya Ku, Yokohama City)

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

5th station: Totsuka

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

6th station: Fujisawa

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

7th station: Hiratsuka

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

8th station: Oiso (presently in Naka District, Kanagawa Prefecture)

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

9th station: Odawara (Crossing the Sakawa River at a ford)

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

10th station: Hakone, the last station inside Kanagawa Prefecture

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

We enter Shizuoka Prefecture from this print on, 11th station: Mishima

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

12th station: Numazu

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

13th station: Hara (presently in Numazu City)

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

14th station: Yoshiwara (presently in Fuji City)

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

15th station: Kambara, the main print tile (Shin Kambara is part of Kambara, Shimizu Ku, Shizuoka City)

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

16th station: Yui (presently part of Shimizu Ku, Shizuoka City)

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

17th station: Okitsu (presently part of Shimizu Ku, Shizuoka City)

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

18th station: Ejiri (presently part of Shimizu Ku, Shizuoka City)

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

19th station: Fuchū (old name of Shizuoka City)

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

20th station: Mariko (presently in Suruga Ku, Shizuoka City)

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

21st station: Okabe (presently in Fujieda City)

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

22nd station: Fujieda

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

23rd station: Shimada

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

24th station: Kanaya (presently in Shimada City)

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

25th station: Nissaka (presently in Kakegawa City)

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

26th station: Kakegawa

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

27th station: Fukuroi

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

28th station: Mitsuke (presently in Iwata City)

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

29th station: Hamamatsu

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

30th station: Maisaka

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

31st station: Arai

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

32nd station: Shirasuka (presently in Kosai City), this print is the last station inside Shizuoka Prefecture

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

Now we enter Aichi Prefecture, 33rd station: Futagawa (presently in Toyohashi City)

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

34th station: Yoshida (presently in Toyohashi City)

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting35th station: Goyu (presently in Toyokawa City)

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

36th station: Akasaka (presently in Toyokawa City)

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

37th station: Fujikawa (presently in Okazaki City)

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

38th station: Okazaki

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

39th station: Chiryu

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

40th station: Narumi (presently in Midori Ku, Nagoya City)

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

41st station: Miya (presently in Atsuta Ku, Nagoya City), this print is of the last station inside Aichi Prefecture

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

Now we enter Mie Prefecture, 42nd station: Kuwana

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

43rd station: Yokkaichi

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

44th station: Ishiyakushi (presently in Suzuka City)

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

45th station: Shōno (presently in Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture)

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

46th station: Kameyama

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

47th station: Seki (“the barrier”), (presently in Kameyama City)

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

48th station: Sakashita (presently in Kameyama City), this is the last station inside Mie Prefecture

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

With this print we enter Shiga Prefecture, 49th station: Tsuchiyama (presently in Kota City)

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

50th station: Minakuchi (presently in Kota City)

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

51st station: Ishibe (presently inside Konan City)

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

52nd station: Kusatsu

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

53rd station: Otsu, this print is oft the last station inside Shiga Prefecture!

station,ukiyoe,ukiyo,e,tokaido,Tōkaidō,Utagawa,Hiroshige,Shizuoka,woodblock,painting

The end of the Tōkaidō: arriving at Kyoto (actually at the time Sanjō Ōhashi (the bridge spanning over Kamo River) at Keishi (“the capital”)

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Robert-Gilles Martineau

Robert-Gilles Martineau

Robert-Gilles Martineau, a 40-year French resident in Shizuoka and japan has been blogging and writing about his love for Japanese gastronomy and tourism in three languages since 1998. His motto: "There is always a new place to visit and a new food to taste out there!"

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