Kozuke Province: Mount Haruna in Snow

In the center of the picture, a vermilion gatelike building stands among snow-covered strange rocks, with a long-roofed shrine hall continuing to the right. A vermilion bridge spans the deep gorge in front of it, with figures crossing. In the valley below, an indigo river tumbles down between snow-laden rocks.

The background mountains use almost no outlines, and the white snowy peaks emerge by leaving the gray sky unprinted around them. Cedar groves and rocks are rounded by snow, and falling snow is shown by white dots in the sky. Only vermilion and indigo are placed amid white and gray, making for a picture of tightly limited color.

Mount Haruna is one of the Three Mountains of Jomo. Haruna Shrine on the mountain drew worshippers from all over the Kanto region as a deity of rain-making and agriculture, and in the Edo period many people made pilgrimages after forming Haruna confraternities in various places. The shrine is known for halls built hard against enormous rocks, and this print is considered to depict it.

This is one of the few snow scenes in the series, and the contrast between the white mountains and the vermilion shrine is memorable. The National Diet Library also holds an impression with the same composition. The figures are tiny, and the stillness of the snowbound mountains is the true subject of the picture.