View of Shiba Bay

At lower left a large channel marker of lashed timber stands, with stakes protruding from the water. At right the shore of the Hama Palace extends, enclosed by stone walls and thick with pines, and sailing ships and small boats float offshore. Flocks of miyakodori (black-headed gulls) wheel over the sea, and land continues along the distant horizon. The sails of the ships swell with the wind.

The vivid blue of the sea and the rose of the sky at the horizon give a bright impression. By drawing the foreground channel marker large and scattering white birds, the print creates depth and movement in the broad sea.

Shibaura was a beach on Edo Bay where channel markers indicating the route for ships stood, and where fishing and the gathering of nori seaweed were carried out. The Hama Palace on the right was a garden of the shogun's family and had a pond fed with seawater. The offshore forts at Shinagawa, built after Perry's arrival, are also said to be depicted.

Its censor's seal gives February 1856 (Ansei 3), making it one of the first five prints of the series to appear. It is placed in the winter section, and the miyakodori, a winter bird, indicates the season. With its bright image that makes the most of the breadth of the sea and the movement of the birds, it can be called an unusual print in a winter section otherwise rich in snow scenes.