Tall Buildings near Meguro (Meguro ien hiugma) from the series One Hundred Views of Musashi (Musashi hyakkei no ushi)

From the series One Hundred Views of Musashi (Musashi hyakkei), this print depicts Western-style architecture near Meguro, a district in southwestern Tokyo that underwent significant development during the Meiji era. The title's reference to tall buildings signals the subject's engagement with architectural modernity — brick or stone Western-style structures that transformed the Tokyo skyline in the 1870s and 1880s. Kiyochika's treatment of such buildings in the Musashi hyakkei series consistently uses atmospheric light to integrate new architecture into the broader landscape rather than isolating it as spectacle. The juxtaposition of European-influenced construction against the natural terrain of the Musashi plain — the broad upland that constitutes greater Tokyo and its surroundings — provides both topographic specificity and cultural commentary on the pace of Meiji modernization visible in the expanding suburban and industrial districts beyond the old city center.