Kisokaidô: Odai - Station 21

Instead of representing this small station, Hiroshige chose to depict a family of pilgrims crossing a stream on the Kanai moor. They are clad in the white robes of pilgrims over their indigo cotton robes and wearing wide sedge hats. As the mother nestles a baby to her breast, she is followed by her son carrying a ladle for scooping up purified water and her bearded husband carrying a rucksack. On the other side, a traveller is waiting to cross the stream. He holds a banner testifying to his religious purpose, which is to raise funds for the main hall of the Ise Shrine, the Great Sacred Temple on the South coast. Covered in pampa grass, the sparse countryside is represented in autumn indicated by a single red-leafed maple tree growing in the centre of the composition.

There were little variations on this print apart from the blue gradation in the stream.

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