Teppozu and Tsukiji Honganji Temple

At the bottom of the picture the tips of the white sails of two ships are drawn large. In the sea beyond float fishermen's boats hauling nets and ships under sail, and a row of stakes, apparently laid out for seaweed cultivation, can also be seen. Above the green woods and townscape on the far shore rises the great tiled roof of the Honganji main hall.

The combination of pale blue sea, white sails, and the great gray roof conveys a quiet autumn dusk. Placing only the tips of the sails large at the bottom and drawing the distant temple small conveys the breadth of the sea.

Tsukiji Honganji is a branch temple of Nishi Honganji, which lost its temple grounds near Asakusa in the Great Fire of Meireki and moved to Tsukiji, land reclaimed from the sea. Called a "monzeki," its great roof was a landmark of Edo seen from the sea. Even after the earthquake, the temple's great roof seen from the sea would have given a sense of the unchanged Edo.

Hiroshige depicts the sea at Teppozu from inside the harbor in the previous print and from offshore in this one. The bold composition showing only the tips of sails large shows well the series' characteristic of putting an object in front to reveal what lies beyond.