Ise Province: Teahouses on the Pass of Mount Asama

The foreground is a plaza on the pass, with large thatched-roof teahouses at left and right and red lanterns hanging from their eaves. Travelers in straw hats and people holding parasols come and go, and a stone wall and stone pagoda can be seen in the center. Beyond the plaza lies a deep valley, where green mountains overlap layer upon layer as they descend toward the coast.

Across the valley an indigo sea spreads out, dotted with white-sailed ships. The horizon is dyed red, and distant land lies at right. The trees and teahouses on both sides frame the picture, with the valley and sea opening through the center, conveying the height of the mountain and the breadth of the view at once.

On the summit of Mount Asama stands Kongoshoji, which has been regarded as the temple guarding the northeast (kimon) of the Ise Shrines. A line of the Ise Ondo song says that after visiting Ise you should also climb Mount Asama, and pilgrims visited this mountain together with the shrines. The pass teahouses are thought to be where those pilgrims caught their breath and enjoyed the view of Ise Bay.

For Ise Province, the series chose a view from Mount Asama rather than the shrines themselves. The Art Institute of Chicago does not have this design, and the image of this work is the impression held by the Tokyo National Museum. The National Diet Library's impression has the same composition.