Yahagi Bridge, Okazaki, from the series The Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Gyosho edition)

Okazaki is the birthplace of Tokugawa Ieyasu, so the head of Okazaki Castle served as a hereditary feudal lord. The Yahagi Bridge, spanning 374 meters across the Yahagi River, was the longest bridge on the Tokaido Highway. On the bridge female travelers shade themselves with parasols, and mendicant monks cross carrying banners soliciting donations for the building of a temple.