Suijin Shrine and Massaki on the Sumida River

Branches of double-flowered cherry extending from a thick trunk frame the top and right of the picture. Below them the Sumida River spreads, with sailboats passing. On the bank at lower right the Suijin grove, with a torii, is thick, and people walk along the road in the foreground. Beyond the low bank of Massaki across the river, Mount Tsukuba with its two peaks rises.

The deep indigo of sky and river occupies most of the picture, and the double-flowered cherry blossoms float up large in pale crimson and white. The composition that arranges foreground branches at the edge of the picture and lets the distant view show between them is a technique used repeatedly in the series.

The Suijin grove is the woods of a shrine enshrining the guardian deity of the Sumida River, corresponding to today's Sumidagawa Shrine. Across the river at Massaki stood Massaki Inari, and the teahouses in front of its gate were famous for dengaku. Together with Mukojima, it was a famous place for blossom viewing and boating.

This print belongs to the Spring section and, as a pair with the following View from Massaki of Suijin Shrine, Uchigawa Inlet, and Sekiya, is composed so that the two banks of the river look at each other. It is a splendid spring print that shows a famous place through branches of blossoms.