Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) Shono: Driving Rain (Shono, hakuu), Edo period, 19th century

Near the town of Shono in Ise province, a sudden downpour causes travellers along the road to scatter in haste to shelter. A man on the right carries an umbrella playfully inscribed with the publisher’s name Takenouchi, and a part of the series title, Fifty-three Stations (gojusan tsugi). Following in the footsteps of a man cloaked in straw, bearers of a small palanquin carry a passenger shielded from the heavy shower. The silhouette of a bamboo grove in the background can be seen curving leftwards under the pressure of wind and rain.