Kawasaki: A ferry-boat crossing the river, and passengers waiting on the further bank in front of a cluster of houses; Fuji in the distance. Close to the further bank is a man on a raft. Travellers crossing the river here by ferryboat may have felt they were being carried towards a different world. However, those returning to Edo looked forward to reentering the familiar homeland. This desolate area along the seashore is now an important industrial district of Japan. Utagawa Hiroshige (1797 October 12, 1858) was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist, and one of the last great artists in that tradition. He was also referred to as Andi Hiroshige (an irregular combination of family name and art name) and by the art name of Ichiyusai Hiroshige. The Ti kaidi (East Sea Road) was the most important of the Five Routes of the Edo period, connecting Edo (modern-day Tokyo) to Kyoto in Japan. Unlike the inland and less heavily travelled Nakasendi, the Ti kaidi travelled along the sea coast of eastern Honshu, hence the route's name.