The first of the prints in the series was published jointly by the publishing houses of Hōeidō and Senkakudō, with the former handling all subsequent releases on its own. Woodcuts of this style commonly sold as new for between 12 and 16 copper coins apiece, approximately the same price as a pair of straw sandals or a bowl of soup. The runaway success of "The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō" established Hiroshige as the most prominent and successful printmaker of the Tokugawa era.