Meguro Drum Bridge and Sunset Hill, No. 111 from One Hundred Famous Views of Edo

Of the two attractions mentioned in the title, the Drum Bridge was the more celebrated site in the Meguro area. Arched bridges were unusual enough in Edo, but even more curious was a stone bridge, which offered few advantages in a city prone to earthquakes. Rounded forms and stone structures were more common in China than in Japan, suggesting a Chinese prototype for this bridge, although it is said to have been designed in the 1740s by a wandering priest inspired by a similar one in Kyushu, Japan. Hiroshige evokes a greater sense of isolation, even loneliness, in this snow scene by offering an oblique view.