Precincts of Sumiyoshi Shrine

The Shrine of Sumiyoshi, where the Three Deities of Sumiyoshi (Uwatsutsuo-no-mikoto, Nakatsutsuo-no-mikoto, Sokotsutsuo-no-mikoto) and Empress Jingu are enshrined, has been worshiped for its guardianship over safe sea travel; poetry and literature; agriculture, and so on. The four main shrine buildings for these deities are designed to face the sea in the west.
It is depicted in the perspective from the south, and the main motifs are arranged diagonally across the painting: the principal shrine on the top right, other three in its front in an L shape, the taiko arch bridge in the center, and the Beach of Sumiyoshi on the bottom-left. In the precinct of the shrine are seen male and female pilgrims, children playing, or even a monkey charmer. This work is characterized by the mixture of primitiveness and old styles, such as that the tori gates on the both sides of the taiko bridge are facing the different directions, and that the red shrine fence at the tori gate is halfway through; the atmosphere of which resembles pilgrimage pictures, which have become popular in the Muromachi period and later.