Yotsugidori yosui hikifune (Towboats along the Yotsugidori Canal)

The Yotsugidori Canal was originally constructed in the seventeenth century as a waterway supplying drinking water to Fukagawa, located northeast of Edo. It was later used to transport goods and passengers. Because the canal was narrow and shallow, boats could not be propelled by oars and were instead pulled along the bank by towmen. Here, Hiroshige transforms the canal’s otherwise straight course into a dramatic series of curves, creating an unusual sense of movement and depth. The bird’s-eye view further emphasizes this effect. This deliberate distortion of the landscape is characteristic of Hiroshige’s imaginative approach to familiar sites in Edo.
The blue bokashi extending upward through the center of the canal shifts toward the left at the first curve, while a broad triangular area of dark bokashi occupies the lower-left bank, with reddish-brown bokashi extending into the side paths. The dark blue horizontal band of haze in the distance and the bokashi applied along the mountaintop are also characteristic features of early impressions of this print.