Ishiyakushi Temple at Ishiyakushi

At the back of the picture a gently sloping mountain is drawn large. The upper part of the mountain is deep indigo and the foot green, with the color shifting from top to bottom. At its foot stand the tiled gate and hall of Ishiyakushi-ji. Fine trees line the ridge, and the whole mountain is drawn with soft volume.

In the foreground spread fields where the rice harvest is over, with many stacks of rice straw. People work in the fields, and some walk along the paths between paddies. In front of the temple is a traveler leading a horse, and the thatched-roof houses spreading on the right are the post station of Ishiyakushi. The surrounding trees are colored red. Several tall trees tower at the temple gate, and a path through the fields extends toward the temple.

The Tokyo Fuji Art Museum reads the colors of the trees as indicating the season from late autumn to early winter, and the hour as dusk. The lower part of the sky is dyed pale red, and a calm of finishing the day's work hangs in the air. Rather than a bustling town or famous sight, the print chooses the scenery of a mountain village where temple, fields, and station nestle together. Along the path between paddies in the foreground, a person with a load walks quickly. The whole picture is put together in calm colors centered on gray and green.