Tokaido Road Guide: Historic Highway, 53 Stations & Hiroshige Prints
The Tokaido was Edo-period Japan's most important highway — 492 kilometres along the Pacific coast linking Tokyo to Kyoto through 53 post stations. Hiroshige's woodblock prints made it famous worldwide. This guide covers the history, the surviving post towns, the prints, and how to experience the route on a modern trip.
The Tokaido: Japan's Most Important Road
The Tokaido — Eastern Sea Road — was the principal highway of Edo-period Japan, running 492 kilometres from Nihonbashi bridge in Edo (present-day Tokyo) to Sanjo Ohashi bridge in Kyoto along the Pacific coast. Of the five official government roads (Gokaido) established by the Tokugawa shogunate after 1600, the Tokaido was by far the most heavily trafficked. Daimyo lords making the mandatory biennial journey to the shogun's capital in Edo, samurai retinues numbering in the hundreds, Buddhist pilgrims, merchants, and couriers all moved along its packed-earth surface in an almost continuous flow during the height of the Edo period. The highway was divided into 53 official post stations (shukuba-machi), each a self-contained town with licensed inns (honjin for high-ranking travelers, hatago for commoners), teahouses, street vendors, and stables for horses. The stations were spaced roughly one day's walk apart — between 8 and 15 kilometres depending on the terrain — and each had its own identity: some were famous for particular foods, others for scenic views, others for specific shrines or festivals. The first station out of Edo was Shinagawa; the last before Kyoto was Otsu. Between them lay some of the most varied landscape in Japan, from the flat Kanto plain to the dramatic mountain passes of Hakone to the broad Oi River crossing at Shimada. The most durable cultural legacy of the Tokaido is Utagawa Hiroshige's woodblock print series "The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido" (Tokaido Gojusan-tsugi), first published in 1833–34. Hiroshige had traveled the route personally and depicted each station in a distinctive composition — rain falling diagonally across a bridge, porters carrying a palanquin through mountain mist, travelers sheltering under an umbrella at a teahouse. The prints became enormously popular in their own time and went through multiple editions. They also constitute a visual record of how each station appeared in the early nineteenth century, a document of lasting historical value as most of the physical post towns have since been absorbed by modern cities.
The 53 Stations: Famous Stops Along the Route
Among the 53 stations, several became particularly famous for specific associations that travelers and artists recorded. Kawasaki (Station 2) was known as the boundary between Edo and the provinces and housed a famous Daishi pilgrimage temple. Kanagawa (Station 3) offered the first views of Sagami Bay and the mountains beyond — the same prospect that appears in Hiroshige's famous composition of the post town in rain. Totsuka (Station 5) marked the last major stop before the difficult Hakone mountain pass and was where travelers would rest before the climb. The Hakone section — stations 10 and 11 at Odawara and Hakone — represented the most dramatic and difficult stretch of the entire route. The Hakone mountain pass at 846 metres crossed through some of the steepest terrain on the route, and the Hakone barrier gate (sekisho) was one of the shogunate's most strictly enforced checkpoints, screening travelers entering and leaving Edo's zone of control. The barrier gate building has been reconstructed at its original location near Hakone-machi, and the paved stone road surface (ishidatami) that survives on the mountain section is one of the best-preserved stretches of the original Tokaido anywhere. The Oi River crossing between Shimada (Station 23) and Kanaya (Station 24) was another famous ordeal: the shogunate deliberately maintained the river without bridges, forcing travelers to wade across or pay for a carrier to transport them on their shoulders. The depth was measured daily and crossing suspended when it exceeded certain levels — travelers could be stranded for days waiting for flood waters to recede. This arbitrary interruption of journey was both a practical inconvenience and a subtle reminder of shogunal power. The stretch between Shizuoka (Station 19) and Hamamatsu (Station 29) passed through the territory most associated with the Tokugawa family's ancestral domain, giving this middle section a particular political significance. The western end of the route approached Kyoto through the Kusatsu junction (Station 52), where the Nakasendo mountain road merged with the Tokaido before the final descent to Otsu on the southern shore of Lake Biwa and the last station before Kyoto's Sanjo Ohashi bridge.
Hiroshige's Prints and the Tokaido in Art
Utagawa Hiroshige's "Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido" transformed how the Japanese thought about their landscape. The series was not Hiroshige's first topographic work, but it was the one that established his reputation and defined the genre of meisho-e (famous-place pictures) in the Edo period. The prints are technically ukiyo-e — woodblock prints using multiple carved blocks for successive color layers — but their subject matter departed from the genre's earlier focus on the entertainment districts of Edo. Instead, Hiroshige depicted ordinary travelers in ordinary weather: caught in rain, struggling against wind, resting at roadside teahouses, or seeing famous views in the early morning light. The most famous print in the series is "Shono: Driving Rain" (Station 45), showing travelers bent against a violent downpour beneath pines, their umbrellas useless against the sideways rain. The composition's strong diagonal lines and the rendering of rain as parallel streaks across the image influenced European artists after Japan opened to the West in the 1850s — Vincent van Gogh made painted copies of it. The Hiroshige exhibition at the Tokyo National Museum in Ueno (the museum holds one of the most complete sets of the Tokaido series) is worth visiting before or after traveling the route itself, as having the prints in mind transforms ordinary stretches of modern road into historically charged landscapes. The Tokaido series was followed by the "Sixty-Nine Stations of the Kisokaido" (the mountain alternative route, now called the Nakasendo) and many other regional print series. But the Tokaido remained Hiroshige's most reproduced and most recognized work, with multiple revised versions published during his lifetime and afterward. The Hoeido edition (the first, 1833–34) is considered the finest in terms of printing quality. Original Hoeido prints appear in auction regularly and command prices from ¥100,000 to over ¥500,000 for premium examples.
Experiencing the Tokaido Today: Walking and Visiting
The modern Tokaido Shinkansen follows the Edo-period highway route quite closely between Tokyo and Nagoya, passing through or near many of the original 53 stations. This makes it possible to visit the surviving post towns as day trips or stops on a longer journey. The most accessible section with the best preservation is the Hakone mountain stretch, where approximately 1.5 kilometres of original paved stone road (ishidatami) survives near the shores of Lake Ashi, lined with ancient cedar trees planted by the shogunate in the 1640s. The Hakone Barrier checkpoint has been reconstructed with period-accurate buildings and a small museum explaining the inspection procedures. Mariko (Station 20, near Shizuoka) is particularly famous as the setting for one of Hiroshige's most beloved prints — a teahouse scene that the print identifies as serving the local specialty tororo jiru (grated mountain yam soup). A restaurant on the site of that original teahouse still serves the dish, using the print itself as part of its historical marketing. The food continuity — a specific dish in a specific location for nearly two centuries — is unusual and worth seeking out. The best way to experience the Tokaido as a walking route is to select specific sections between surviving post towns rather than attempting the full 492 kilometres. The Hakone section (Odawara to Mishima via the mountain pass, approximately 20 kilometres) is the most dramatic. The Shizuoka to Okitsu section includes several well-preserved honjin inn sites. For those following the full route on foot, the Tokaido Walkers organization maintains waymarking and publishes a detailed guidebook. Allow six to eight days for the full walk, staying in ryokan at the post towns along the way. April through early May and October through November are the best seasons for walking — summer heat on the coastal sections can be severe. A Shinkansen pass combined with local trains makes it practical to visit multiple stations in a day. From Tokyo, Odawara (for the Hakone section) takes 35 minutes by Shinkansen. Shizuoka takes 75 minutes. Each of these stations is walkable from the Shinkansen station to the surviving historical sites.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Tokaido road?
The Tokaido was the most important of the five official roads of Edo-period Japan, running 492 kilometres along the Pacific coast from Nihonbashi bridge in Edo (Tokyo) to Sanjo Ohashi in Kyoto. It had 53 official post stations where travelers could rest, eat, and change horses. It was immortalized in Hiroshige's famous woodblock print series "The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido" (1833–34).
Can you walk the Tokaido today?
Yes, the full Tokaido can be walked over approximately 6–8 days, though most of the route passes through modern urban and suburban areas rather than preserved historical landscape. The best-preserved and most scenically rewarding section is the Hakone mountain pass, where original paved stone road (ishidatami) and cedar trees dating to the 1640s survive. The Hakone section walk from Odawara to Mishima takes about 8 hours.
Where can I see the original Tokaido post towns today?
Mariko (near Shizuoka) has a surviving teahouse from a Hiroshige print, still serving the original tororo jiru dish. The Hakone barrier checkpoint has been reconstructed near Hakone-machi. Odawara retains its castle. Nissaka and Kanaya preserve stretches of original stone road. The Tokaido Walkers organization publishes a detailed map of all surviving historical sites along the route.
Where are Hiroshige's Tokaido prints displayed?
The Tokyo National Museum (Ueno) holds one of the most complete sets of Hiroshige's Tokaido series. The Ota Memorial Museum of Art (Harajuku, Tokyo) and the Hiroshige Museum in Shizuoka also have significant holdings. The Hoeido edition (first printing, 1833–34) is considered finest in quality. Original prints appear at auction and in specialist galleries in Tokyo's Nihonbashi area.
Book Accommodation in Tokyo
Start or end your Tokaido journey in Tokyo — the original eastern terminus at Nihonbashi. Tokyo hotels give access to the Shinkansen for fast connections to Hakone, Shizuoka, and the historic post towns along the Pacific coast route.
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Generate a personalized Japan itinerary that incorporates the historic Tokaido route — Hakone mountain pass, Shizuoka, and the post towns along Japan's Pacific coast, built around your travel dates and interests.
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