Fuji from Kanaya on the Tokaido

The Oi River, occupying most of the picture, is drawn like a sea, with band-like waves rising in many layers. Through its current, porters in straw hats wade waist-deep, carrying passengers on renday (platforms for carrying people on shoulders) and large loads. The round hats of the porters dot the waves and create a rhythm along the current.

On the bank at upper right can be seen the houses of the post town and flags, with people crossing the river and those who have finished crossing gathered at the water's edge. Fuji at upper left rises with its snowy summit beyond green ranges, calm in contrast with the movements of the raging river. On the bank at right foreground, a pine spreads its branches.

In the Edo period it was forbidden to bridge the Oi River or to cross it by boat, so travelers crossed on porters' shoulders or on renday. It was one of the Tokaido's difficult points, celebrated in the saying "the Oi River that cannot be crossed even if one wishes." Kanaya was a post town on the west bank of the Oi River, in what is now Shimada City, Shizuoka Prefecture. This print is one of the ten added after the 36, with the lines printed in black ink.