Izumo Province: Hotohoto Festival at Izumo Shrine

In the foreground, three women with robes draped over their heads stand close together, one holding a leafy green branch. Behind them three thick cedar trunks stand straight up, spreading dark green branches high above. Deep in the mist, a large torii gate, the shadows of trees, and two black human figures can be faintly seen.

The background is filled with a pale gray-green gradation, and the trees and torii in the distance are printed faintly like silhouettes. Only the red and white and floral patterns of the women's kimono are vivid, setting off the mystical air of the hushed precincts. The reddish brown of the cedar trunks and the deep green of the leaves seem to stand forward against the pale colors of the mist.

Izumo Taisha is an ancient shrine dedicated to Okuninushi no Okami. It is said that deities from all over the country gather there in the tenth month of the old calendar, and it has also drawn worship as a deity of matchmaking. "Hotohoto" in the title is said to be the name of a custom in the Chugoku region in which people visited houses and knocked on doors at Little New Year, but its connection to this print is not clear.

Depicting a scene of faith rather than scenery, this is one of the most dreamlike prints in the series. Impressions with the same composition are held by the Tokyo National Museum and the National Diet Library. What the black human figures deep in the mist represent is also not clear.