Fox Fires on New Year's Eve at the Changing Tree in Oji

In the middle stands an old hackberry tree with spreading branches, and at its foot many foxes are gathered. Pale blue fox fires glow at the foxes' mouths. At right a bundle of straw stands, fox fires also dot the field beyond in a line, and houses can be seen at the foot of a distant forest. Stars twinkle in the sky. The foxes gather in various poses, as if putting on their costumes.

Against the deep indigo night sky and the grayish field, the white foxes and the pale light of the fox fires stand out. While keeping to a dark palette, the print scatters points of light to create depth and movement. The fox fires continuing far into the distance convey the expanse of the darkness and the depth of the night.

At Oji there was a tradition that on New Year's Eve foxes from all over the Kanto region gathered beneath the Shozoku Enoki, put on their costumes, and went on to worship at Oji Inari. The local people are said to have divined the next year's harvest by the number of those fox fires.

Placed last in the winter section, it closes the 118 prints drawn by the first Hiroshige. It is a unique print even within the series for overlaying a legendary scene on a real famous place.