Transportation

The old Tokaido highway linking Kyoto and Edo passed through Shizuoka. Twenty-two of the fifty-three views of post towns on the highway that wewe depicted in Fifty-Three Stages of the Tokaido, a collection of prints by the world-famous woodblock artist Ando Hiroshige(1797-1858), were located in Shizuoka prefecture. The sites now part of twelve cities and six towns. In 1853, shortly before the Edo period(1603-1867) came to an end, the Black Ships led by Commodore Mtthew Perry of the United States Navy suddenly arrived at the shores of Japan, triggering the opening of the country after 250 years of seclusion. Shimoda, where the first United States consul Townsend Harris was stationed, lies at the southeastern tip of the Izu penisula in Shizuoka prefecture.

With its well-developed infrastructure and extensive taransporation network that includes the Bullet Train(the super-express "Shinkansen") and the Tomei Expressway, Shizuoka has displayed remarkable growth as an industrial region on the Pacific coast, while preserving its special charm as the home of numerous natural parks. Major construction projects that have recently attracted attention include the new Shizuoka airport, a second Tomei Expressway, the Chubu Nihon Highway through the center of the prefecture, the Izu Ju-Kan Highway traversing Izu peninsula, and the Hamamatsu technopolis. These infrastructural projects are intended to lay the groundwork for the twenty-first century, while trying to nurture a sense of well-being and foster a society that is full of vitality. A steady stream of ambitious projects is being produced to develop the prefecture.