Nihonbashi: Morning View (日本橋 朝之景), by Utagawa Hiroshige, c. 1833–1834, from The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō (東海道五拾三次). Nihonbashi served as the geographical and commercial centre of Edo, where the distances along Japan's five principal highways were officially measured. Hiroshige portrays the bridge at dawn as fishmongers hurry from the nearby fish market, merchants prepare for the day's trade, and a daimyō procession sets out along the Tōkaidō, vividly illustrating the rhythm of everyday life in the shogunal capital.
