Asakusa River, Great Riverbank, Miyato River

At the left of the picture, a bonten made of bundled red and white paper and a pole hung with paper streamers project large from the top. Hats are lined up at the water's edge in front, and at lower right floats a boat carrying people shouldering wooden votive swords. Small boats pass on the river, and in the distance Azuma Bridge appears with the twin-peaked Mount Tsukuba rising beyond. People rest on the second floor of a teahouse on the bank.

The red and white of the bonten, the deep blue of the river, and the pale sky are vividly contrasted. By leaving the upper half of the picture wide open and cutting off the bonten in the foreground at the edge of the frame, the artist emphasizes the broad river and the distant mountain.

The Oyama pilgrimage was a journey to Oyama in Sagami, which Edo craftsmen made in summer in organized confraternities. Before departure they are said to have purified themselves in the Sumida River and set out carrying votive wooden swords. Asakusa River, Okawabata, and Miyato River are all names for the Sumida River. A trip with fellow members of the confraternity was both a religious act and an enjoyable outing.

This print belongs to the summer section, and its censor's seal dates it to the seventh month of Ansei 4 (1857). The composition of placing festival or pilgrimage figures large in the foreground and setting the famous scenery behind is used repeatedly in the series.