Famous Rest House at Kusatsu

In the lower half of the picture, porters carrying an express palanquin and large loads dash past the teahouse. Bare-chested men run leaning to the side, and their movement occupies the foreground. A group carrying a large green box and a group carrying a palanquin with a passenger follow one behind the other. Powerful muscle lines are drawn on the men's bodies.

The upper half is the interior of the teahouse. The sign reads Ubagamochiya, and inside the shop people kneading mochi, carrying it, waiting, and eating are distinguished. On the left of the shop a horse with a load is tethered, and on the road at right travelers come and go. At the back right of the shop can be seen a grove of cedars and a thatched hut. The shop's sign is vertical and hung at the center of the front.

Kusatsu was the post station where the Tokaido and the Nakasendo diverged, and it flourished as a transportation hub. Ubagamochiya had long been known as a shop where travelers rested. By placing the people resting at ease and the porters running without rest one above the other, the print shows two faces of a post station on the highway.