Mino Province: Yoro Waterfall

A thick waterfall runs from the top of the picture to the bottom, just right of center. On the left, a steep rock wall topped with pines rises up, with trees in autumn color peeking over the cliff edge. Pines also cling to the rock face on the right, and the pool at the base of the fall lies hidden beyond the frame.

The fall is printed with deep indigo along its edges and bright blue in the middle, giving a sense of the water's thickness and force. Only a little indigo sky and pale madder-red show above the gray and brown rock, and this restrained palette makes the blue of the water stand out. Dots of reddish brown scattered across the rock suggest trees just beginning to turn, hinting that the season is autumn.

Yoro Waterfall is known for the Yoro legend, in which water drawn by a devoted son turned into sake. It is also said that Emperor Gensho visited the place and changed the era name to Yoro. It was popular throughout the Edo period as one of the leading sights of Mino.

Katsushika Hokusai also painted this same waterfall in his series Tour of the Waterfalls of the Provinces, but Hiroshige includes neither the pool nor any figures, conveying height through the long vertical band of water alone. The impression held by the National Diet Library has the same composition, with the rock printed in vivid green and the trees in red.