Which ukiyo-e artist is famous for 'The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō'?

Utagawa Hiroshige is the ukiyo-e artist famous for “The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō.”

His best-known edition, the Hōeidō series, was published in 1833–1834. It depicts the post stations along the Tōkaidō, the major road linking Edo, the shogun’s capital, with Kyoto, the imperial capital. Hiroshige’s atmospheric landscapes made travel scenes a central and highly popular subject in Japanese printmaking.

Despite the title, the famous Hōeidō edition contains 55 prints: one showing departure from Edo at Nihonbashi, 53 station views, and one showing arrival in Kyoto. Hiroshige’s dramatic use of rain, snow, mist, rivers, bridges, and changing light gave the series its distinctive emotional quality.

A common mix-up is with Katsushika Hokusai, whose “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji” also helped establish landscape ukiyo-e. Hokusai and Hiroshige were different artists, however. Hiroshige’s Tōkaidō series was issued in many later versions, and he produced roughly 30 separate Tōkaidō series during his career.