（御茶水蛍）

This print depicts fireflies (hotaru) at Ochanomizu, the district in central Tokyo where the Kanda River cuts through a narrow gorge flanked by stone retaining walls and willows. Fireflies along dark riverbanks were a seasonal motif in Japanese art associated with early summer evenings (early summer, or shoka), appearing in kacho-e and genre prints alike. Kiyochika's treatment brings his kōsen-ga lighting technique to bear on this intimate natural phenomenon: the bioluminescent glow of individual fireflies floating above the dark water surface or clinging to riverside grasses required the same careful bokashi gradation he used for lamplight and moonlight, but on a miniature scale. The Ochanomizu gorge, flanked by elm and willow trees and crossed by stone bridges, provides a precisely identifiable urban setting, making this both a nature study and a topographic record of Meiji Tokyo.