Mishima Pass in Kai Province

The trunk of the giant tree reaches from the top to the bottom of the picture, dividing the view of Fuji left and right. At its base, three travelers join hands and spread their arms, trying to embrace the trunk. Around them are people resting seated and others walking with loads on their backs. It is a scene in which one can almost hear the cheers of the people measuring the trunk. Baggage that has been set down also lies by the roadside in the foreground.

Fuji is expressed in overlapping colors that shift from indigo to green to ink, with clouds of distinctive shape drifting around the summit. Billowing summer clouds also rise on either side of the mountain. The composition, which overlaps the vertical line of the giant tree with the triangle of Fuji, is powerful, and the travelers' gestures add a human comic touch.

"Mishima-goe" in the title refers to the Kamakura Okan, the road from the Kofu Basin through the foot of Mt. Fuji toward Suruga and Sagami. The Kamakura Okan was one of the old roads linking various regions with Kamakura. The Yamanashi Prefectural Museum sees the scene as the view of Fuji from Kagosaka Pass on the border of Kai and Suruga. It recalls the open view of Fuji's foot that spreads out after crossing the pass.