Hiratsuka: A zigzag road, lined with a few trees, traversing fields, and a courier running along and passing two other travellers. In the background a dark, round-topped hill, behind which a white Fuji appears in the distance. Here, the Tokaido Highway runs along a low causeway by the ocean. The man running is one of the professional couriers who worked in relays and covered the distance of 489 km between Edo and Kyoto in about 90 hours. 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.