「[御茶の水螢]」

A second printing state of the Ochanomizu firefly composition, this impression shares its subject with kobayashi-kiyochika--23 — the Kanda River in summer viewed at night. Variations between states of Kiyochika's prints frequently involve differences in ink density, bokashi gradation timing, or color registration, which can substantially alter the mood. The firefly light motif allowed Kiyochika to work at the intersection of traditional seasonal imagery — hotaru, or fireflies, are a canonical summer subject in Japanese art — and his Westernized treatment of illumination. Where earlier meisho-e prints handled landscape through outline and pattern, Kiyochika rendered atmospheric phenomena through tonal gradation, giving familiar subjects an unfamiliar visual weight. The two states of this composition together document the print workshop's production process in detail.