Historic Site of Urashima in Kanagawa (Kanagawa Urashima koseki), from the series Scenes of Famous Places along the Tôkaidô Road (Tôkaidô meisho fûkei), also known as the Processional Tôkaidô (Gyôretsu Tôkaidô), here called Tôkaidô meisho no uchi

This woodblock print from the Tôkaidô meisho fûkei series depicts the historic site of Urashima in Kanagawa (Kanagawa Urashima koseki)—a location near Kanagawa station on the Tôkaidô associated with the legend of Urashima Tarô, the fisherman who visited Ryûgû-jô (the Dragon King's undersea palace), spent what seemed days there, and returned to find centuries had elapsed on shore. The site's legendary association transforms a standard meisho-e coastal view into a mythologically charged landscape. Kyosai likely depicted the bay and shoreline in the vicinity of Kanagawa (present-day Yokohama area), possibly incorporating visual references to the Urashima narrative—the turtle that guided him to the undersea realm, or the tamatebako (jewel box) whose opening brought instant old age. The Gyôretsu Tôkaidô format may have incorporated a daimyo retinue passing through this historically resonant site, juxtaposing ceremonial bureaucratic spectacle with legendary time. Nishiki-e polychrome printing on ôban washi.