Utsu Mountain near Okabe

Dark green slopes bulge out from both sides of the picture, and a road passes through the narrow valley between them. Sky shows only in a small area at the top, well conveying the sense of oppression at a pass hemmed in by mountains on both sides.

Beside the road there is a channel along a stone wall, and water from the Okabe River rushes down. Those passing on the road are local people carrying firewood and loads, and by showing only the upper body of a person coming from over the slope, the print lets us feel the grade of the slope.

Utsunoya Pass lies between Mariko and Okabe. In ancient times the road known as the Narrow Path of Ivy appears in the Tales of Ise and has been known as an utamakura, a place famed in poetry. In the depths of the valley, a single tree turned red catches the eye.

Going down the pass to the west brings you to Okabe-juku. Utsunoya Pass was a difficult stretch between Mariko-juku and Okabe-juku, and on the east side of the pass lay the village of Utsunoya. The slopes occupying most of the picture are shaded in indigo and green bokashi, and the difference between the darkness of the valley and the bright sky beyond heightens the depth of the mountains. The thatched houses in the back evoke the life of the settlement along the pass road.