Morning View of Uji River

This work depicts a river that curves from among the mountains toward the left of the picture, in an autumn scene. It is ink and light color on paper and measures 48.4 x 59.3 cm. It is designated an Important Cultural Property. A person crosses a bridge where a single boat floating on the river is heading. Around the bridge the autumn leaves are turning color.

"Uji" (written 兎道) in the title is an old way of writing Uji in Kyoto, known as a tea-producing area, and "chodon" means the morning sun. At the lower right of the picture, the building surrounded by trees where the Uji River curves is Byodo-in Temple. The densely rounded mountains and the trees drawn with various brushstrokes seem like writhing living things and convey surging vitality.

The artist, Mokubei, whose real name was Aoki Yasohachi, admired Ike no Taiga, a literati painter influenced by the Chinese Southern school. The figures in the picture being rendered in a Chinese style is also a characteristic.