Chikugo Province: Fish Weirs in the Rapids

A blue river flows through the center of the picture from upper right to lower left. Several weirs of lined stakes and stones extend diagonally in the river, and the water foams white through the gaps. On the near right bank a path lined with slender trees continues, and a single small boat floats on the river.

On the far bank are a white rocky riverbed, rows of houses surrounded by pine groves, and green mountains swelling gently behind. Red clouds trail at the foot of the mountains, and in the left distance far ranges fade into the evening sky. The blue of the river and the green of the mountains divide the picture broadly, and the diagonal lines of the weirs create rhythm.

A yana is a fishing device in which stakes and stones are arranged in the shallows of a river to lure fish in, and in Chikugo sweetfish and other fish were caught with it. The scene is said to be the Chikugo River around present-day Ukiha, Ukiha-machi. The Chikugo is a great river of Kyushu, and the people along it were closely tied to the river through fishing and boat transport.

Yanase in the title may not be a specific place name but refer to the scene of shallows where a yana is set. The print draws a tranquil river fishing scene from a high viewpoint like a map. The National Diet Library's impression has the same composition.