The Armor-hanging Pine at Hakkeizaka

At the center of the picture a lone pine with a twisting trunk stretches its branches from the top of the slope toward the sea. On the slope at lower left, teahouse benches, palanquin bearers and a man leading a horse come and go, and fields spread to the right. Beyond the pine Edo Bay opens out, with white-sailed ships and a large ship anchored offshore appearing small.

The sky is deep indigo at the top and tinted sunset red near the horizon, and the deep green of the pine stands out clearly before it. The contrast between the slope running diagonally across the lower half of the picture and the sea spreading horizontally emphasizes the height of the slope and the breadth of the view.

Hakkeizaka is a slope on today's Ikegami-dori in Sanno, Ota Ward, said to be named for the fine view from the top, in which eight scenes were counted. The Armor-hanging Pine was a pine of the legend that Hachimantaro Yoshiie hung his armor on it on his way to Oshu, and it was a famous place where people traveling the Tokaido also stopped.

This print belongs to the Spring section and is one of the famous places along the Tokaido on the southern edge of Edo in the series. Drawing a single tree large at the center of the picture to show the origin of a famous place is a device often seen in this series.