Samegai

A large pine towers in the center of the picture, and beneath it walk a man carrying a spear and his attendant. On the hill at right is a thatched-roof teahouse, where someone seated looks this way. At back left stand thatched houses and groves of cedar and pine, and beyond them a blue, hazy distant view appears.

The pine trunk dividing the picture left and right is printed in pale red, with its twisting branches filling the sky. The green hill at right and the row of houses at left face each other diagonally, guiding the eye into the distance around the pine. The yellow thatched roof of the teahouse is a bright spot of color amid the green.

Samegai-juku was a post town in Sakata District, Omi Province, and its name is said to come from "Isame no Shimizu," a spring in the legend of Yamato Takeru. Abundant spring water from Mount Ryozen made it known as a resting place where travelers quenched their thirst. There was also a tradition that this spring was an underground flow from Yoro Falls.

This is a design by Hiroshige. The station name in the title is written "醉か井," a different character from today's 醒井. Choosing a highway scene at the edge of the town rather than the famous spring is a choice often seen in Hiroshige's designs for this series.