View of Nihonbashi Tori-itchome

A large red-rimmed umbrella occupies the center of the picture. Under it dancers in white kimono walk in a circle, and in the foreground a woman in a blue kimono stands seen from behind. At right a man carrying a load on his head and peddlers pass, at left people with parasols come and go, and behind them stand shops with large noren curtains.

The indigo curtains and gray tiled roofs fill the background in calm colors, against which the red of the umbrella and the white of the dancers float up. The composition that draws figures large, filling the picture, and expresses the streetscape by only a part of the street suits the title, which calls it a sketch.

Tori-itchome was a corner of the main avenue extending south from Nihonbashi, where the large drapery store Shirokiya kept a shop. The party depicted is said to be performing the Sumiyoshi dance around a large umbrella, which paraded through town at festivals and other occasions to entertain people.

This print belongs to the Summer section, and with a censor's seal of August 1858 (Ansei 5) it is a relatively late one in the series. In a series with many pictures of famous scenery, it makes figures the protagonists and vividly conveys life in the town.