1.
the Tōkaidō, the historic Edo–Kyoto highway
The historic highway along the Pacific coast linking Edo (Tokyo) and Kyoto, the busiest of the Edo period's five main roads, with 53 post stations. The name lives on in the Tōkaidō Shinkansen and the JR Tōkaidō Line, which follow roughly the same route.
Common expressions
- 東海道五十三次: the fifty-three stations of the Tōkaidō, famous from Hiroshige's woodblock prints
- 東海道新幹線: the Tokyo–Shin-Osaka bullet train line
- 東海道本線: the conventional JR main line along the same route
Cultural note
The Tōkaidō was the most traveled of the 五街道, the five highways leading out of Edo. 歌川広重's print series and the comic travel novel 東海道中膝栗毛 made its stations part of popular culture.