Asakusagawa Shubi-no-matsu Onmaigashi (Pine of Success and Onmai Riverbank at Asakusa River)

On a clear, starlit night, groups of people enjoy the cool evening air and views of the river from open boats. Beneath the famous Pine of Success, however, Hiroshige subtly suggests a more intimate encounter: two pairs of wooden clogs left at the end of a roofed pleasure boat hint at the presence of a couple within. In early impressions of this design, such as the present lot, the faint silhouette of a woman can even be seen behind the curtain. To Hiroshige’s contemporaries, the implication would have been readily understood, as the area beneath the Pine of Success was well known as a meeting place for lovers’ rendezvous in midnight.
Hiroshige also depicted the scene in a painting (lot 169), in which a full moon illuminates the night and the woman’s silhouette is more clearly visible, seemingly looking out through the curtain.