Ishibe: View of a tea-house on left, under a large tree, and travellers watching a man dancing; hills in background from graded colour-block, the lower part in mist. This station was one of the most desolate stations on the highway. The road-side restaurant offered travellers rice wine, rice boiled with leafy vegetables, and baked bean-curd coated with bean paste. Utagawa Hiroshige (1797 October 12, 1858) was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist, and one of the last great artists in that tradition. He was also referred to as Andi Hiroshige (an irregular combination of family name and art name) and by the art name of Ichiyusai Hiroshige. The Ti kaidi (East Sea Road) was the most important of the Five Routes of the Edo period, connecting Edo (modern-day Tokyo) to Kyoto in Japan. Unlike the inland and less heavily travelled Nakasendi, the Ti kaidi travelled along the sea coast of eastern Honshu, hence the route's name.