Iwami Province: Salt Beaches near Takatsu Hill

On the beach in the foreground, people carry seawater in buckets hung from shoulder poles, and others level sand with long-handled tools. Several thatched huts stand in a row on the beach. At left, green hills with pines overlap, with a torii gate standing at their foot. Toward the back right, the sea and a distant cape can be seen.

The pale gray-blue of the beach, the deep green of the hills, and the indigo of the water's edge overlap horizontally like bands. The sky is shaded dark at the top and bright below, expressing the quiet light of dusk or an overcast sky. The tiny figures of the people convey the breadth of the beach, and the brown roofs of the huts give the picture rhythm.

Takatsu is a place associated with Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, and on the hill is Kakinomoto Shrine dedicated to him, so the torii is thought to be one on its approach. The work on the beach is thought to be agemahama-style salt making, in which seawater is sprinkled on sand to collect salt, layering the life of the land over a famous place with poetic associations.

This print is placed after Izumo in the series. Impressions with the same composition are held by the Tokyo National Museum and the National Diet Library. Prominently including people at work within a famous place, it shows well the character of a series that conveys the livelihoods of each region.