Rainbow

A rainbow arches across the print, a meteorological subject that became newly available to ukiyo-e designers in the Meiji era as imported aniline pigments expanded the chromatic range achievable in nishiki-e. Earlier woodblock printing relied on a limited palette of plant- and mineral-based colors that made full-spectrum effects difficult; by the 1880s and 1890s, designers like Gekko could attempt subjects requiring graduated bands of distinct hue. The composition likely sets the rainbow over a landscape or genre scene — figures pausing to look up, or a passing rain shower clearing — using bokashi to soften the transitions between color bands and to suggest the dampness of the air. The print reflects the Meiji period's broader interest in atmospheric and weather effects, a sensibility shared with Kobayashi Kiyochika's light studies, and demonstrates Gekko's willingness to experiment beyond the established subject categories of earlier ukiyo-e.