Evening Snow, Kambara, from the series the Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Hoeido edition)

Blanketed in increasingly heavier snowfall, the landscape becomes a glittering sea of white. A farmer dons a straw rain-cape and umbrella hat, a traveler shields his body with a raincoat and umbrella hat, and the man with a half-shut umbrella and cane is probably a blind masseur. Normally blessed with warm weather, a scene in Kanbara like this was quite rare, and even today we can’t be sure of the location it pictures. Nevertheless, this is known as a masterpiece, even among the other works in the series. In creating this series, Hiroshige incorporated the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter, and wind, rain, snow and other weather into the scenery to produce a richly diverse work.