Maisaka, Actual View of Imagiri

Hiroshige's masterful Fifty-three Stations of the Tøkaidø Road is the most famous series of Japanese prints ever designed. Linking the shogun's headquarters in Edo with the imperial capital in Kyoto, the Tøkaidø runs along the Pacific coast. Because of this, many of the images from the series are seascapes. This print shows a view of Imagiri Beach near Maisaka, the 30th station (counted from Edo). Looking inland from the beach, it depicts Lake Hamana, the brackish water of which empty into the Pacific Ocean. Travelers proceeding westward had to take a ferry across the lake. The brown-red pilings in the lower right were erected to protect the ferry port from the open sea.