Umewaka Jinja

Umewaka Jinja, a small shrine in the Mukojima district on the eastern bank of the Sumida River, is associated with the legend of Umewaka Maru, a child said to have been abducted, sold into slavery, and buried at this spot after his death, with his grieving mother searching for him in vain. The shrine became a meisho featured in Edo-period guidebooks and prints, its wooded enclosure providing a quiet subject distinct from the grander civic spaces Kiyochika often depicted. As the primary title-form of this subject in his output, this print likely serves as the foundational design, with the shrine gate, stone markers, and surrounding trees rendered through his characteristic manipulation of filtered natural light and shade.