The Bridge, Mannenbashi, at the Source of the Sokokura Hot Spring, Hakone

This print depicts the Mannenbashi bridge spanning the thermal waters near Sokokura, one of the oldest hot spring sources in the Hakone region. Kiyochika renders the scene with his characteristic atmospheric light effects, likely employing graduated bokashi to suggest steam rising from the sulfurous waters and mist settling in the surrounding mountain terrain. The bridge itself — a modest wooden structure typical of rural Meiji infrastructure — anchors the composition across the picture plane while the volcanic landscape recedes behind. The Hakone resort area attracted Meiji-era tourists and held long associations with travel literature and earlier meisho-e traditions, but Kiyochika approaches the subject through naturalistic observation rather than conventional topographic formula. The interplay of water reflection and diffused light places this firmly within his kosen-ga approach to landscape.