Rain on the outskirts of a town

A companion or variant to the first outskirts composition, this print revisits the subject of rain at the edge of an undefined town, likely with a shifted perspective or altered seasonal condition. Kiyochika's repeated return to the outskirts theme reflects his interest in transitional zones — spaces neither fully urban nor rural, caught between old Edo and modernizing Meiji Tokyo. The compositional language of such prints typically places the viewer at ground level, with a dirt road or path receding into rain-mist, bordered by fencing or low vegetation. Whether this second version depicts the same location in a different light condition, or a distinct peripheral district entirely, the technical approach would remain consistent: bokashi gradations softening the sky behind the rain, the town dissolving at the far edge of visibility. Such atmospheric recession was unusual in Edo-period woodblock practice, derived instead from Kiyochika's exposure to Western-style painting during the early Meiji years.