Tango Province: Amanohashidate

From upper left to lower right, a narrow sandbar lined with pines stretches diagonally. In the pine grove at lower right are a vermilion shrine hall and a torii gate, and the edge of the sandbar is fringed by a white beach that seems to ripple. A single small boat floats in the inner sea at left, and many sailboats float in the sea at upper right. The pines become smaller from front to back, conveying the length of the sandbar.

The sea is based on pale light blue, with several bands of indigo drawn across it to give breadth. In a bold composition that divides the picture in two with a single diagonal sandbar, the view from a high vantage point shows the form that matches the name, a bridge in the heavens.

Amanohashidate is a sandbar in Miyazu Bay, counted among the Three Views of Japan together with Matsushima in Mutsu and Miyajima in Aki. It has long been a poetic place name, and Koshikibu no Naishi's poem "Because the road to Oeyama and Ikuno is so far, I have not yet set foot on Ama no Hashidate, nor seen a letter from it" is included in the Hyakunin Isshu. The shrine on the sandbar is said to be Amanohashidate Shrine.

Hiroshige also drew Amanohashidate in another series, Famous Places of Japan (Honcho Meisho), and in this print raises the viewpoint further to emphasize the shape of the sandbar. The National Diet Library also holds an impression with the same composition.