Comment - Two ladies are chatting to each other. A boy is carrying a red patterned Edo kite ("Edo-tako", "江戸凧") on his back. The small group is just passing the torii stepping down from a shrine, overlooking the walled apron of the outskirt area. A man is coming up the stairs, reaching the outer shrine torii. The scene is depicting views of the Yamanote district of Edo with accompanying kyoka poems.

This woodblock from 1810 shows the same scene as of the separated pages from the e-hon (picture book) "Picture Book of Kyōka Poems: Mountains upon Mountains" from 1803/4, but as a single sheet.


Series - "Picture Book of Kyōka Poems: Mountains upon Mountains" ("画本狂歌山満多山", "Ehon kyōka yama mata yama")


Artist - see Biography


Signature - HOKUSAI ga ("北斎画", "drawn by HOKUSAI") center, right


Publisher - Tsutaya Juzaburo (蔦屋 重三郎)


Image Size -  22.9 x  33.0 cm    (8" x 12")


Condition - Woodblock print; ink and color on paper, singled out sheet from e-hon (chûbon size); a fold in the center; two red ink smudges