The reader may already be acquainted with the Hoeidō edition (1833-34) of The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō. This was the most popular print series ever made in Japan.

Hiroshige did two other editions, the Kyōka edition (abt 1838) and the Reisho (abt 1840) which is the focus in this book. We include thumbnails from the two other editions for comparison. It is a total view!

There were 53 post stations along this important road, apart from the start and terminus, in all 55 prints, which are all here in the order from Edo to Kyoto. The reader experiences the same journey with a completely different set of prints and can compare to the Reisho, Hoeidō and Kyōka editions. For details on the prints in the Hoeidō and Kyōka editions see author's books on these editions.

It is possible to travel the same road today and some villages are still looking quite like they did back then.