Dewa Province: Mogami River and a Distant View of Mount Gassan

At the bottom of the picture, many large boats with yellow sails float, with rafts and small boats also passing. A sandbar extends along the right bank in the middle, and a village of straw-roofed houses stands among trees. The river bends widely toward the back, and sails continue in dots even farther away.

The light blue of the water, the green of the banks, and the yellow of the sails create a bright tone, while the mountains at the back are kept subdued in gray and purple. Making the sails smaller from front to back clearly conveys the length and depth of the river and strengthens the contrast with distant Mount Gassan. The yellow of a sky suggesting evening and the band of purple at the foot of the mountains give the river scene a gentle sense of passing time.

The Mogami River flows from the interior of Dewa to the port of Sakata, and in the Edo period it was the main artery of water transport carrying rice and safflower. It is also known from Basho's verse "Gathering the rains of May, how swift the Mogami River." Mount Gassan is one of the Three Mountains of Dewa, a sacred mountain of mountain worship climbed by many ascetics and pilgrims.

The sailing boats filling the picture are thought to convey the Mogami River as it prospered through water transport. The Art Institute of Chicago holds two impressions, and the National Diet Library also holds an impression with the same composition.