Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on January 2010

Ever wonder what Tokyo looked like in the Edo Era? Eihan Shimizu has. The University of Tokyo engineering professor used geographical data to create a series of CG-based cityscapes showing the city as it might have appeared in the 19th century. The results were then compared with the best-known contemporary depictions of Edo – the famed ukiyo-e prints of Hiroshige and Hokusai – and collected in a 2009 book, Saigen Edo no Keikan: Hiroshige, Hokusai ni Egakareta Edo, Egakarenakatta Edo (Recapture of the Edo View: Edo Portrayed and Edo Dismissed by Hiroshige and Hokusai).