This series, Fifty-three Pairings of the Tokaido Road, Tokaido gojusan tsui, popularly called Pairs Tokaido or 53 Parallels for the Tokaido Road, was published in 1845-1846.
It is a unique cooperation between three artists: Utagawa Hiroshige, Utagawa Kunisada and Utagawa Kuniyoshi and five publishers: Ibaya Kyubei, (Ibaya Senzaburo (Dansendo)) and Kojimaya Jubei, Enshuya Matabei, Ebiya Rinnosuke (Kaijudo) and Iseya Ichibei.
The special feature of this Pairs Tokaido is the pairing of a print for each station with a legend, a wonderful, dramatic, historic or supranatural story. These stories are told partly by the print theme, partly by accompanying text in a cartouche. Sometimes there is a poem. It is a very enjoyable tour!
