Shinobazu Pond (Shinobazu no ike), from the series Edo meisho dōke zukushi (Comical Views of Famous Places in Edo)

Shinobazu Pond (Shinobazu no ike), from Utagawa Hirokage's Edo meisho dōke zukushi ('Comical Views of Famous Places in Edo'), is a vertical ōban color woodblock print published in 1859 by Tsujiokaya Bunsuke. Shinobazu Pond, situated below Ueno Hill in northern Edo, was one of the most beloved famous places of the city: a lotus-covered pond ringed by teahouses, a small island consecrated to Benzaiten, and an approach lined with cherry trees that drew enormous crowds at hanami time. Hiroshige had treated the site repeatedly, including in his Hyakkei, and Hirokage's version assumes the viewer's familiarity with the canonical layout. The comic premise — like much of the series — pivots on the disruption of an ordinary outing: a moment of slapstick on the pond's path or in the tea-stand at its edge, situated within a recognizable Shinobazu landscape. The Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs Division holds an impression of this sheet (LCCN 2009615546), measured at 33.2 × 22.2 cm and recorded in the catalog as jpd.00576. The Library's open-access digital program makes the image freely available worldwide.