Shinmachi Bridge at Hodogaya

The wooden bridge in the foreground is Shinmachi Bridge, also known as Katabira Bridge. On the bridge, a party carrying a palanquin and a komuso (a monk who begs while playing the shakuhachi) in a deep woven hat head toward the post station, and beyond the bridge thatched and plank-roofed houses line the highway.

A sign reading Niha-chi (two-eight) can be seen on the shop at the foot of the bridge, showing that it is a soba shop. There is a figure at the front of the shop welcoming customers, suggesting a place where travelers could take a breath as soon as they entered the post station. The low part of the sky is tinged orange.

To the left of the row of houses, fields spread out, showing that behind the post station was countryside. Hiroshige layers the bridge, the post station, and the farmland diagonally so that the eye flows naturally from the river to the station. Hodogaya is the post station that comes after Kanagawa.

The name Shinmachi Bridge derives from the fact that the bridge was rebuilt when a new route was laid in 1648 (Keian 1). The vermilion of the bridge railings, the indigo of the river, and the pale colors of the thatched roofs combine into a calm evening view. Even the stone wall before the bridge and the shadows of the piers falling on the water are carefully drawn.