Yatsumi Bridge

From the top of the picture, long willow branches hang down like a blind. At upper right part of a willow trunk peeks in, and at lower left the railing of Ichikokubashi and the edge of a parasol. Between the willows can be seen the river, a stone embankment and a wooden bridge spanning it, and boats loaded with cargo pass on the river. At the back rows of white-walled residences continue, Mount Fuji rises beyond them, and swallows fly in the sky.

The green of the willows covers the upper half of the picture, and the composition lets the distant view show through the gaps. The indigo at the top of the sky, the red band at the horizon and the white of Fuji form a clear distant view, and the foreground willows and railing give depth to the scene.

Ichikokubashi was a bridge over the Nihonbashi River at the point where the outer moat and the Nihonbashi River meet. Because eight bridges, including itself, could be seen from the bridge, among them Tokiwabashi, Gofukubashi, Nihonbashi and Edobashi, it is also said to have been called Yatsumi Bridge, the Eight-view Bridge. Around the bridge gathered samurai residences and merchants' storehouses, and it was also a hub of water transport where boats passed.

This print belongs to the Summer section and follows the two Nihonbashi prints in the catalog order. Covering the picture with willow branches is one of the foreground devices seen repeatedly in the series.