It ran more or less along the coast (in part the Pacific, in part the Inland Sea) from Tokyo to Nagoya, along a path which contains some of the most beautiful scenery in Japan, including spots where mountains suddenly meet the sea. It then ran across the mountains, and around the southern end of Lake Biwa, to Kyoto.
Fifty-three stations (not counting the two termini), which became post-towns (shuku-eki) over time, were established along it; they consisted of horse and porter stations, along with a range of lodging, food, etc, establishments for the use of travellers. The horses were mainly for use by official messengers, but weary travellers could also hire horses, or kago (palanquins).
Checkpoints called seki were set up by the Tokugawa government, where guards stood watch, and turned back those who did not have the appropriate passes. Within Edo itself, each section of the city (machi) was closed off by wooden gates called kido, which were closed every night, and re-opened early in the morning. A traveller wishing to start the first stage, at the Nihon-bashi (literally "Japan Bridge") in the heart of Edo would have to wait until the kido at the bridge was opened.
Additional barriers to travel were the larger rivers, which were generally unbridged (in part as a deliberate measure of the government, to slow down the movement of any large rebellious army, should one be formed). When the river was flowing, travellers had to cross in boats, or be carried in kago, or on the back of a porter. After a heavy rain, crossings might be halted for several days, forcing all to wait for the waters to subside.
Another place where water could cause delays were at the two places where travellers normally took boats: at the stage from Maisaka to Arai, where a boat ride avoided a lengthy detour inland around Lake Hamana (a large brackish lake open to the ocean), and at the stage from Miya to Kuwana, where the road was cut off by the sea. Bad weather at either could also hold up travellers until the boatmen were prepared to venture out.
Most travelers covered the roughly five hundred kilometers on foot, usually travelling several stages per day, although travellers might spend several days at a station, if they were so inclined. The journey normally took about two weeks; a trip of only a week or so was possible if the traveller hurried, but bad weather could easily stretch it to a month.
Among the travellers on the Tokaido were the processions of the great daimyō, who were mandated to spend every other year at the Shogun's court (to prevent them from organizing rebellions), and travelled back and forth in huge processions numbering hundreds of people.
(The other road shown is the Kisokaidō, named after the Kiso river, which it follows for part of its path.)
The first list is in alphabetical order; the second list is in station order.
Akasaka 37 Arai 32 Chirifu 40 Ejiri 19 Fuchu 20 Fujieda 23 Fujikawa 38 Fujisawa 7 Fukuroi 28 Futugawa 34 Goyu 36 Hakone 11 Hamamatsu 30 Hara 14 Hiratsuka 8 Hodogaya 5 Ishibe 52 Ishiyakushi 45 Kakegawa 27 Kambara 16 Kameyama 47 Kanagawa 4 Kanaya 25 Kawasaki 3 Kusatsu 53 Kuwana 43 Kyoto 55 Maisaka 31 Mariko 21 Minakuchi 51 Mishima 12 Mitsuke 29 Miya 42 Narumi 41 Nihonbashi 1 Nissaka 26 Numazu 13 Odawara 10 Oiso 9 Okabe 22 Okazaki 39 Okitsu 18 Otsu 54 Sakanoshita 49 Seki 48 Shimada 24 Shinagawa 2 Shirasuka 33 Shono 46 Totsuka 6 Tsuchiyama 50 Yokkaichi 44 Yoshida 35 Yoshiwara 15 Yui 17 Nihonbashi 1 Shinagawa 2 Kawasaki 3 Kanagawa 4 Hodogaya 5 Totsuka 6 Fujisawa 7 Hiratsuka 8 Oiso 9 Odawara 10 Hakone 11 Mishima 12 Numazu 13 Hara 14 Yoshiwara 15 Kambara 16 Yui 17 Okitsu 18 Ejiri 19 Fuchu 20 Mariko 21 Okabe 22 Fujieda 23 Shimada 24 Kanaya 25 Nissaka 26 Kakegawa 27 Fukuroi 28 Mitsuke 29 Hamamatsu 30 Maisaka 31 Arai 32 Shirasuka 33 Futugawa 34 Yoshida 35 Goyu 36 Akasaka 37 Fujikawa 38 Okazaki 39 Chirifu 40 Narumi 41 Miya 42 Kuwana 43 Yokkaichi 44 Ishiyakushi 45 Shono 46 Kameyama 47 Seki 48 Sakanoshita 49 Tsuchiyama 50 Minakuchi 51 Ishibe 52 Kusatsu 53 Otsu 54 Kyoto 55
He went on to do a large number of other Tokaido series, but his first "Fifty-Three Stages of the Tokaido" (1833-1834, often called the "Hoeido Tokaido", after its publisher, to distinguish it from all the others) is still the most famous. He produced it after travelling down the Tokaido in 1832 (or possibly 1831, the details are uncertain) as part of an official mission from the Shogun to deliver a gift of horses to the Emperor. It was this series that brought him to immediate fame, from his prior relatively unknown status. This first "Fifty-Three Stations" is today unanimously considered one of the two best series he ever produced, and probably his best ever.
In total, he produced over three dozen Tokaido series over the course of his life. Here is a partial list of all the Tokaido series he worked on, including all the more common ones, with the names they are generally known by (often the name of the publisher, marked with a '*'), with alternative names given in brackets; their titles in Japanese; the publisher, if not given by the name; the format they were printed in; and the dates when they were originally published.