Suwa Bluff at Nippori

Two cedars rise tall at the center of the picture, and at the edge of the plateau to their left benches stand in a row where people sit and look at the view. At lower right, roofs of houses wrapped in blossoms line the foot of the cliff. Beyond the plateau fields spread to the horizon, and at back right Mount Tsukuba with its two peaks can be seen.

The vertical lines of the cedars contrast with the horizontal breadth of the distant plain, strengthening the sense of an expansive view. The white cherries in the foreground and the hazy blue-green plain depict the soft air of spring.

Suwa Bluff was on the Nippori plateau where Suwa Shrine stands, a scenic spot from which one could look down from the cliff over the countryside below and the distant mountains. Teahouses where one could enjoy blossoms and the view lined the area, and it was an excursion spot for the people of Edo.

This is the fifteenth print of the Spring section. It depicts the same plateau as the preceding Temple Gardens in Nippori, setting a view within a garden beside a view from the cliff top. The censor's seal dates it to May 1856 (Ansei 3). The Spring section continues with several prints viewing Mount Tsukuba from the northern suburbs, leaving an impression of the breadth of Edo's north. The figures relaxing on the benches in the foreground convey the casual way blossom viewing was enjoyed at the time.