Izumi Province: Takashi Beach

In the foreground is a green slope with sparse pines, and at lower left a shrine building, a torii, and a small hall can be seen, with people walking on a narrow path. Beyond, a sandy beach stretches like a bow, with white waves winding along the shoreline and rooftops that appear to be teahouses lined along the shore.

The center of the picture is a sea of indigo that changes in depth from the foreground out to the offing. Sailing ships with sails raised dot the water, and in the foreground a boat with its sail lowered is moored. Above the horizon the sky is dyed from yellow to a pale madder red, and the mountains of the far shore lie low in the distance.

Takashi Beach is a poetic place name (utamakura) known from the Hyakunin Isshu poem "Oto ni kiku Takashi no hama no adanami wa kakeji ya sode no nure mo koso sure" by Yushi Naishinno-ke no Ki. As a coast of white sand and green pines, it has long been regarded as a representative famous place of Izumi.

Hiroshige keeps the figures small and makes the breadth of the sea and the curve of the beach the stars. The beauty of the printing, which gradates the blue of the sea from top to bottom, is also a highlight.