Nihon Bridge and Edo Bridge (Nihonbashi, Edobashi), from the series "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei)"

This oban-format nishiki-e from the "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo" depicts Nihonbashi—the official zero-kilometer origin point of Japan's five major highways—and the adjacent Edobashi crossing. The Nihonbashi fish market (uogashi) operated at the foot of the bridge, making it among the most commercially active sites in the city, and Hiroshige's composition engages with the bridge as a hub of labor and exchange rather than purely scenic spectacle. The composition may adopt a low or lateral viewpoint along the length of the bridge, with porters and merchants in the foreground and the secondary arch of Edobashi receding into the middle distance. Blue bokashi in the sky and the surface of the Nihonbashi River frame the scene, while the arc of the bridge structure provides a strong formal element. Published from 1856 onward under Uoya Eikichi, the series used the tate-e vertical oban format throughout, and this urban subject reflects Hiroshige's command of the city's commercial geography.