Rain on the Hiratsuka Plain near Kutsukake Station

Moving to the left in the foreground, a packhorse driver in a straw raincoat and hat leads a loaded horse, head lowered against the wind and rain. Another packhorse and more people follow behind, and the lead traveler walks hunched forward, holding down his hat. On the embankment at upper right, trees thrash their branches, and the roof of a farmhouse peeks out from behind them.

Thin diagonal lines of rain fill the whole picture, showing the wind blowing from upper left to lower right. Blue-green gradations on the ground suggest the gleam of puddles, and a pale pink touches the distant horizon. People, horses, and trees all lean the same way, so that the entire scene seems pushed by the wind.

Kutsukake was a post town between Karuizawa and Oiwake, located on the highland at the southern foot of Mount Asama. The high elevation made the weather changeable, and travelers likely often found themselves walking in rain or fog. Hiratsukahara is said to be the name of the open land near the post town.

This is one of the designs by Keisai Eisen, who handled the first half of the series. Eisen often added a subtitle to the post town's specialty or scenery, and this print bears the inscription "Rain at Hiratsukahara." Impressions of the same design are also held by the Art Institute of Chicago and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.