Artist Utagawa Hiroshige (Japanese, 1797 1858) was born, lived, and died in Edo (renamed Tokyo in 1868). By the eighteenth century Edo was the world s largest city. During this period, a newly prosperous middle class developed a love for richly colored woodblock prints depicting landscapes, flowers, and scenes of daily life. Hiroshige s extraordinary woodblock-print series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo ranks among the greatest achievements of Japanese art. Issued from 1856 to 1858, the 118 woodblock scenes remain a precious record of the appearance and spirit of Edo at the culmination of more than two centuries of uninterrupted peace and prosperity.