Hiroshige, The Komagata Hall and Azuma Bridge

Notes: This state showcases a single, somewhat heavy cloud, partly behind or beneath the cuckoo in a sickle-type shape. No major changes were made to this image in the course of its printing history. The most notable concern the sky, which is sometimes a summery yellow and shows different patterns of light clouds. In Komagatado, Yedo (present-day Tokyo), a Cuckoo flying against a stormy sky and rain. On the west bank of the Sumida River stood a small temple dedicated to an avatar of the Kannon with the Horse's Head, a god of horses and thus of safe journeys. The building was soon given the name Komakatado, literally 'Pony Hall'. Its roof is just visible in the lower left portion of the design. A lesser cuckoo (hototogisu), the herald of summer, sweeps through the sky. The cuckoo and Komakata Hall in the print allude to a 17th-century love poem attributed to Takao II, courtesan and lover of Date Tsunamune stating: "Are you now, my love, near Komakata? Cry of the cuckoo!".