Gotenyama

Gotenyama, a hill overlooking the bay in the Shinagawa district south of Edo, was the site of a former shogunal villa and became one of the city's premier destinations for cherry blossom viewing. The hill's elevated position provided views toward the sea, and Hiroshige's print likely combines the blossoming trees of the foreground with a panoramic middle distance showing the coastal road of the Tokaido or the waters of Edo Bay. Picnickers and pleasure-seekers beneath the cherry canopy would represent the seasonal leisure class that animated such sites, their figures rendered in the flat, patterned textile colors typical of Hiroshige's figure work. The foreground trees, in full bloom, would be printed with pale pink overprinted on white paper, with the blossoms rendered as dense clusters against branches outlined by the keyblock. Gotenyama's position at the beginning of the Tokaido route made it a site of departure and arrival as well as recreation, layering its scenic qualities with associations of travel and transition.