The 69 Stations of the Kiso Highway

Japanese: 木曾街道六十九次 - きそかいどうろくじゅうきゅうつぎ

The part of the Nakasendo that passes through the Kiso Valley is called the Kiso Kaido (Kiso Road), but in a broader sense it refers to the entire Nakasendo. The Nakasendo started at Nihonbashi in Edo, passed through Shinano, Mino, and Omi, and reached Sanjo Ohashi in Kyoto, and was the second major road after the Tokaido. The section from Kusatsu to Kyoto overlaps with the Tokaido, so there are 69 stations up to Kusatsu. The ukiyo-e woodblock print "The Sixty-Nine Stations of the Kiso Kaido," which has this road as its theme, was started by Keisai Eisen in 1835 (Tenpo 6), and Utagawa Hiroshige joined in around 1838, and was completed around 1842.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

中山道が木曾谷を通る部分を木曾街道(木曾路)というが，広義には中山道全体をいう。中山道は江戸日本橋より発し信濃，美濃，近江を経由して京都三条大橋へと至る，東海道に次ぐ主要道路であった。この間草津から京都までは東海道と重なるため，草津までで69駅となる。この街道を主題とした浮世絵版画《木曾街道六十九次》は1835年(天保6)から渓斎英泉によって始められ，38年前後に歌川広重が参加，42年ころ完成された。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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