Musashi Province: Morning after Snow on the Sumida River

At the bottom of the picture are snow-covered houses and a bridge over a canal. In the right foreground a snow-laden pine spreads its branches, with a red-pillared hall peeking out behind it. On the river in the middle, roofed boats and small boats float, and several snowy sandbars stretch out white.

Beyond the river, the snow-covered embankment and trees of the far bank continue long, with white shores extending farther back. The upper part of the sky is dyed red, and with three colors, the white of the snow, the indigo of the river, and the red of the dawn, it expresses a clear winter morning. Figures are almost absent, conveying the hush of a morning in which snow has muffled sound.

The view is thought to be from around Matsuchiyama, on the west bank of the Sumida River north of Asakusa, and the bridge in the foreground may be the Imado Bridge over the Sanya Canal, the far bank being the Mukojima embankment. Snow viewing was a winter pleasure of the people of Edo, and the Sumida River embankment was known as a famous place for snow scenery.

The series treats Edo separately as "Edo," and gives Musashi Province a snow scene on the Sumida River. The Art Institute of Chicago, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Tokyo National Museum, and the National Diet Library hold designs with the same composition.