Kisokaidô: Omiya - Station 04

Omiya was a prosperous town located at 7ri 16 cho or 29km/18 mi from Nihonbashi with comfortable inns designed as suitable for feudal lords and their entourage. This is where many Daimyo processions stopped before reaching the capital. In 1840, there were one honjin, nine seki-honjin (secondary honjin) and 25 hatago (inns). The roofs of the station (1) can be seen beyond the embankment on the right. In the distance, the snowy crest of Mt.Fuji 110km/70 mi away dominates the flat, fallow rice paddies (2). It is spring and the trees are in bloom, but the rice has not germinated yet. On the road, an old farmer with a hoe over his shoulder and a boy pass in front of a large stone marker erected in honor of Seimen Kongo (3), a god to whom local cult prayed at night every sixty days. Making their way in the opposite direction, two travellers with one in a palanquin or kago (4) journey towards the station. The palanquin is a common way of travelling with porters available at every station.

A number of changes in the palette were made as the printing progressed. In the first edition, the foreground was a rich green which was wiped away by bokashi gradation technique. The gradation on the tree blossoms is seen only in the first edition and then it disappeared such as in this later edition. The foreground changed to yellow ochre and the Eisen's signature (5) and the Takenouchi seal (竹内) (6) disappear after the first edition.

(Source: The 69 stations of the Kisokaido, Sebastian Izzard, Brazillier 2008)