The Kiso Road through Japan was established in the early 17th century by the then ruler Tokugawa Ieyasu. Along the arduous route from Edo (modern-day Tokyo) to Kyoto, he had rest areas set up at regular intervals, where inns, shops, and restaurants provided weary travelers with food and lodging. In 1835, the renowned woodblock carver Keisai Eisen was commissioned to depict the journey along the Kiso Road in a series of prints. After completing 24 woodblock prints, Eisen was succeeded by Utagawa Hiroshige, who ultimately completed the series of 70 prints in 1843. Both Eisen and Hiroshige were esteemed woodblock artists. In Kiso Kaidō Rokujūkyū-tsugi, both showcase their distinctive styles while maintaining a harmonious overall impression. From the bustling starting point of Nihonbashi to the fortified city of Iwamurata, Eisen chose more subdued colors in his images, yet excelled in depicting figures—especially glamorous women—and indulged in snapshots of the activities along the route, from shoeing a horse to sweeping rice. Hiroshige demonstrates with atmospheric scenes how adeptly he masters landscape representation, from the peaceful shores of the Ota to the daunting Wada Pass and a climb between Yawata and Mochizuki in the moonlight. The collection The Sixty-Nine Stations of the Kiso Road not only represents a pinnacle of woodblock art—with bold compositions and experimental use of color—but also forms an enchanting tapestry of 19th-century Japan, long before industrialization swept over the land of the rising sun. This edition showcases the only known copy of this series that is almost entirely made up of rare first prints, allowing the image cycle to be presented in TASCHEN's compact anniversary format with due splendor.