Station #53: Otsu was the largest city on Lake Biwa. The well in this print was popularly called hashirii (running well) because of the way water gushed out of it. Rice cakes in Otsu, borrowing the name of the well, were called hashirii rice cakes. Otsu was always full of travelers as it was the last station on the Tokaido before Kyoto and also the 69th station on the Kisokaido, the highway serving the mountainous region between Tokyo and Kyoto. It was a harbor town and the principal trading area for Lake Biwa and Kyoto. Fresh produce and fish were shipped to Otsu each day for transport to Kyoto. In the print, night is falling and draymen with their ox carts wait their turn at the constantly flowing well. A little child (rare in prints of this time) runs up to the man at the well.

Image Copyright: Minneapolis Institute of Art