Nakatsugawa (Fair Weather)

In the foreground flows a small stream with stone-faced banks, and palanquin bearers and a man carrying a load cross an earthen bridge. At left a large willow droops its branches, and travelers walk the road beneath it. In the middle ground green rice paddies spread, and at the end of a narrow path the town's houses can be seen.

The sky and distance are left pale, and the green of the fields and the ocher of the road are painted brightly, giving the picture a cheerful impression. Behind the houses brown mountains continue gently, and the deep green of the willow in front tightens the picture. The people on the road are small, conveying the breadth of the peaceful countryside.

Nakatsugawa was a post town at the eastern gateway to Mino, recorded as bustling with many merchant houses. It was land held by the Yamamura family, the Kiso magistrates, and a magistrate's office was located there. Regular markets had been held in the post town since early times, and a record of 1843 (Tenpo 14) counted 228 houses.

This is by Hiroshige. There are two designs of Nakatsugawa with different compositions, and it is said that the rainy one with travelers going through rain was made first and later replaced by this fair-weather design. Most sets of impressions have this fair-weather design.