（有明桜）

This print depicts cherry blossoms (sakura) in the manner of Ariake, a term that refers either to the pale dawn moon (ariake no tsuki) still visible in the morning sky or to the Ariake coastal area of Tokyo Bay. If the former reading applies, the composition would show cherry blossoms under the thin light of a waning moon at dawn—a subject combining two of the most emotionally resonant seasonal images in the Japanese classical tradition, mono no aware made visible. Kiyochika renders such ephemeral light conditions through delicate bokashi gradations in the sky area, transitioning from the pale wash of moonlight to the barely perceptible blue of pre-dawn. The cherry blossoms would appear in near-silhouette or lit from below, their petals modeled in pale pink on ōban washi. The print belongs to a small group of Kiyochika works in which he approached traditional poetic subjects through his characteristic photographic luminism.