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Leaving Edo: Nihonbashi, "The Bridge of Japan"

Leaving Edo: Nihonbashi, "The Bridge of Japan"

Series Title: The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido Road - Hoeido Edition

Artist: Utagawa (Ando) Hiroshige I (Japanese, 1797 - 1858)

Date: 1831 - 1834
Medium: ink on paper
Dimensions:
Sheet: 9 x 14 in. (22.9 x 35.6 cm)
Credit Line:Museum Purchase
Object number: 1933.326.55.1

The Nihon Bridge, located in the center of Edo (now Tokyo) was the starting point of the Tokaido Road. All distances along the route to Kyoto were measured from this point.

This first plate in the series shows a daimyo procession coming into view. In the foreground a group of fish vendors move out of the way.

The business district of Nihonbashi grew up around the bridge which linked the two sides of the Nihonbashi River. The first wooden bridge, completed in 1603, became famous when it was designated the eastern terminus of the Nakasendo and the Tokaido roads. Both roads ran between Edo and Kyoto during the Edo period. The wooden bridge was replaced by a larger stone bridge in 1911 which still stands today.

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