Fukushima

Down the slope in the foreground come men carrying loads and travelers in broad hats toward the viewer. A stone wall and black board fence loom on the left and a high grassy embankment on the right, and at the end of the road one can see a timber gate and fence, with an official seated in the guardhouse inside.

Both embankments are painted in dark green and blue while only the central road is left bright, so the eye is naturally led to the gate in the back. Tall trees cover the top, and the oppressive feeling of looking down on those who pass through the gate conveys the severity of the checkpoint.

Fukushima lay roughly in the middle of the Kiso Valley and was a key point where a checkpoint was placed. The checkpoint controlled "guns coming in and women going out," and the Yamamura family, the Kiso magistrates, served generation after generation as its keepers. The checkpoint stood at the northern end of the post town, and travelers had their permits checked there before going on. The post town also had the magistrate's residence and was the political center of the Kiso Valley.

This is one of the designs by Hiroshige, and below the title the seal of Kinjudo can be seen. This is thought to be an impression showing that Kinjudo had replaced Hoeido as publisher. The Metropolitan Museum of Art also has the same design. The fact that it lets us peek beyond the gate yet does not clearly draw the inside of the guardhouse also expresses the checkpoint's forbidding air.