Tile Kilns and Hashiba Ferry, Sumida River (Sumidagawa Hashiba no Watashi Kawaragawa), No. 37 from One Hundred Famous Views of Edo

An ancient literary reference is evoked in this scene viewed from the yard of a tile-maker. The small white gulls in the foreground are miyakodori, or capital birds. Their fame dates back to an episode in the tenth-century epic Tales of Ise, in which some travelers from Kyoto spot an unfamiliar bird while crossing the Sumida River. Learning from the ferryman that it is a capital bird, one lonely courtier composes this verse:

If you are what your name implies,
Let me ask you, Capital-bird,
Does all go well
With my beloved?

Translation by Helen McCullough