Moon-Viewing Point

The foreground is a large tatami room, with Edo Bay opening out beyond the veranda. Plates, cups, and a candlestick are scattered on the tatami, and a woman's shadow falls on the shoji at left. A kimono sleeve peeks in at the right edge, and in the sky outside are a full moon and a line of wild geese, with ships with furled sails lined up on the sea.

The contrast of green tatami, indigo sea, and white moon is beautiful, and the building's pillars and veranda cut the scenery like a picture frame. Showing figures only through a shadow and a sleeve lets the viewer imagine the banquet.

Tsuki no Misaki (Moon Point) was a rise north of the Shinagawa post town and a famous spot for viewing the moon across the sea. Shinagawa was the first post station on the Tokaido, with teahouses and brothels facing the sea, where moon-viewing banquets were held. Banquets using moon-viewing as an excuse are thought to have been held frequently in the rooms of the post town.

It is one of the pictures depicting the autumn moon, and its highlight is the device of conveying the atmosphere of a banquet without showing people. The perspective in which the lines of the room's floor and pillars converge toward the back is thought to show the influence of Western techniques. The Metropolitan Museum of Art also holds the same print.