Women Accosting Travelers at Goyu

In the foreground of the street, two tome-onna (women who solicit customers for an inn) are leaping at travelers. One tugs at a furoshiki bundle on a traveler's back, and the other grabs another traveler's sleeve. The pained face of the man being pulled makes the scene comical. Beside them, another woman stands in the middle of the street watching the scuffle.

Inside the inn on the right, an old woman offers a basin for washing the feet of a customer who has taken off his straw sandals. From a second-floor window a woman looks out at the street, resting her chin on her hand, and other travelers walk up from the far end of the street. The rows of houses on both sides narrow toward the back, conveying the length of the post-station street. The far end of the street is hazy blue, showing that the townscape continues into the distance.

On the placard hanging on the inn wall are written names such as Carver Jirobei and Printer Heibei, the craftsmen who carved and printed the blocks of this print. Ichiryusai, written as Ichiryusai-zu, is Hiroshige's go (an artist's alias). It is a playful print that slips the makers' names into the picture.