Komagata Hall and Azuma Bridge

A single cuckoo crosses the top of the picture, calling as it goes. Below, a red banner flutters on a slender pole; the roof of Komagata Hall appears at lower left and a willow tree at lower right. On the Sumida River in the middle, boats go back and forth, Azuma Bridge spans small in the distance at left, and trees and houses continue on the far shore. A man working a raft can also be seen on the river.

The color of the red banner stands out vividly against a heavy sky of gray and blue. Leaving the upper half of the picture wide open and placing only the bird and banner there expresses the quiet and expanse of a rainy day.

Komagata Hall is said to stand where the Kannon image of Sensoji was pulled up from the Sumida River, and was the first hall that people arriving in Asakusa by boat visited. The red banner is thought to have been the signboard of a nearby shop that sold rouge. The cuckoo was a bird that announced the arrival of Edo's summer. A cuckoo calling in the rain was also a favored subject in waka and haiku.

This print belongs to the summer section, and its censor's seal dates it to the first month of Ansei 4 (1857). An impression is also held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Its composition, with a bird and banner large in front and the famous sight small below, is regarded as one of the most lyrical in the series.