View of Hamamatsu

In this print a beauty woman or bijin is depicted in front of the scenic landscape of Hamamatsu. The print was inspired by Hiroshige’s famous Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō with Beauties (Tōkaidō gojūsan tsugi no uchi). The Tōkaidō (literally the ‘Eastern Sea Road’) was the main road of feudal Japan that ran along the coast (in part the Pacific Ocean, in part the Inland Sea) between the old imperial capital of Kyoto and the new capital of Edo (now known as Tokyo). The journey contains some of the most beautiful scenery in Japan, including spots where mountains suddenly meet the sea.