The Abe River near Fuchu

In the foreground, a woman traveler, palanquin and all, is placed on a rendai and carried across the river by many porters. Beside her can be seen people crossing on porters' backs and others on their shoulders. Like the Sakawa and Oi Rivers, the Abe River was one that people crossed on foot with the help of porters.

From the far bank, porters leading a horse loaded with baggage into the river, and a party walking in water up to their waists, are crossing toward us. Across the river, people go back and forth in different directions and in different ways.

Fuchu, also called Sunpu, was the castle town where Tokugawa Ieyasu spent his later years. The Abe River flows to its west, and after crossing it one heads to the next station, Mariko-juku. Hiroshige spreads the blue of the water across the whole picture, showing both the trouble and the bustle of the river crossing at the same time.

At the right edge of the picture, a figure in a kimono marked on the back and with a hat slung behind him is in the water along with the porters. The three bands of blue stream in front, white gravel bank in the middle, and mountains in the back give the wide horizontal picture a stable breadth. The top edge of the sky is shaded in deep indigo, echoing the blue of the river.