Nihonbashi Station by Kesai Eisen

Kesai Eisen was commissioned in 1835 to create the first images that would come to be known as The Sixty-Nine Stations Along the Kisokaidō, as the ancient route between Kyoto and Edo (or present-day Tokyo) was known. Eisen was later replaced by Utagawa Hiroshige. This woodblock depicts the oldest wooden bridge over Edo’s Nihonbashi River, which was built in 1603. Hiroshige and Eisen: The Sixty-Nine Stations along the Kisokaido byAndreas Marks and Rhiannon Paget is published by Taschen. All images: Collection of Georges Leskowicz/Taschen