Kosai City (Japan) Shirasuka Shiomizaka The motif of "Shirasuka Shiomizaka"is based on the Ukiyo-e print by Hiroshige Utagawa, a famous Ukiyo-e artist in the Edo period (A.D.1603-1867). This piece is one of 55 works from the "The fifty-three stages of the Tokaido" (the most important of the Five Routes of the Edo period, connecting Edo to Kyoto in Japan) and is of a view of an expanse of Enshu-nada Pacific coastline as seen from Shiomizaka. This view is the best beauty spot in the Tokaido region. Furthermore, this place is said to be where Emperor Meiji first saw the pacific Ocean on his way to Edo (Tokyo) from Kyoto, in the first year of the Meiji Period (A.D.1868)