Asuka Hill (Asukayama), from the series "Five Hills of Edo (Koto no gozan)"

From the series Five Hills of Edo (Koto no gozan), this chuban color woodblock print at the Art Institute of Chicago depicts Asuka Hill (Asukayama), one of five hills the series identifies as canonical scenic places in the city. Asukayama in the northern Oji area of Edo had been planted with cherry trees by the shogun Yoshimune in the eighteenth century specifically to provide a hanami site accessible to commoners, and by Shuncho's time it was one of the most heavily frequented spring outing destinations in the city. The Five Hills series structure echoes the famous Five Mountains of Kyoto in its formalization of urban topography into a canonical set, allowing Shuncho to issue a coherent five-print set keyed to identifiable Edo geography. The chuban format suited the series form and permitted the artist to develop each hill as a discrete topographic and fashionable subject anchored by the elegantly dressed women in the foreground.