Night View of Saruwaka-machi

A large full moon floats at the top of the picture, and below it the street extends straight into the distance. Theater tea houses line both sides, and a turret is raised on the roof of the playhouse at right. People with lanterns, people walking and chatting, and a dog are drawn in the street, and each has a shadow.

Against an indigo night sky and a gray ground, the picture uses a perspective that gathers the lines of the buildings to a single point in the distance. Giving figures shadows is rare in ukiyo-e and is thought to be a device adopting Western techniques.

Saruwaka-machi was where the playhouses were moved from the center of town under the Tenpo Reforms, and the officially licensed theaters known as the Three Theaters of Edo gathered there. It conveys how the area remained busy with tea houses and crowds even after the daytime performances ended.

As a night scene with shadows, it is among the most highly regarded pictures in the series. It belongs to the autumn section, and the clear moon indicates the season. In depicting not the plays themselves but the night street of the theater district, one can see Hiroshige's interest in conveying the atmosphere of the town.