Hosokute

Down the slope in the foreground go travelers in broad hats and men carrying loads. Thick-trunked pines stand diagonally at left and right, spreading their branches wide. In the valley seen between them, the roofs of the town line up, and beyond are overlapping ranges of blue and gray mountains. Figures can also be seen among the houses in the valley.

The pine trunks divide the picture diagonally, cutting out the view of the post town like a window. The indigo at the top of the sky, the blue of distant mountains, and the green of the grass in front are bright, conveying the relief of spotting a post town from the pass.

Hosokute was a post town in the mountains of Mino, said to have been established later to make up for the long distance between Okute and Mitake. There was also an inn for officials of the Owari domain. The post town was close to the ridge of a hill, and a row of houses probably came suddenly into view upon crossing the pass.

This is by Hiroshige. In his Kiso Road designs Hiroshige often viewed post towns from afar or depicted the road leading to them, and this print is one such example. Dividing the picture with slanting trunks is a device Hiroshige used repeatedly in other series as well.