Seido and Kanda River from Shohei Bridge

A steep green embankment covers the left of the picture, with pines standing on it. The Kanda River flows through the valley in the middle, and a boatman in a hat poles a boat in the rain. On the right bank the white-walled fence of Yushima Seido continues in steps along the slope, and people with umbrellas climb it. At lower right part of the railing of Shohei Bridge peeks in.

Rain is printed in fine lines across the entire picture, and the gray sky and green embankment create a rain-damp palette. The composition, with the large embankment at left and the slope at right flanking the valley, emphasizes the deep flow of the Kanda River.

Yushima Seido is a shrine hall enshrining Confucius, where the Shoheizaka Gakumonjo, the shogunate's academy, was established. The name Shohei derives from Confucius's birthplace. This stretch of the Kanda River was a scenic valley also called Keikei, likened to a famous Chinese beauty spot. The slope leading to the hall was called Shoheizaka, traveled by people going to the academy.

This print belongs to the Summer section. Printing lines of rain across the whole picture, together with Sudden Shower over Shin Ohashi Bridge and Atake of the same section, shows the series' skill in depicting weather.