Bamboo Yards, Kyobashi Bridge, No. 76 from One Hundred Famous Views of Edo

Bamboo was an essential commodity in Edo, both for construction and for seasonal decorations. Stocks of tens of thousands of bamboo poles were brought in as rafts, and bamboo yards, while perhaps not as tall or as thick as shown here, were imposing to behold.

The characters "Hori-Take" on the lantern of the figure just left of center on the bridge are the hidden signature of Yokogawa Hori-Take, one of the best known carvers of the day, an artisan responsible for engraving many of Hiroshige's designs of the 1850s. Here he has inserted his name on the one print most appropriate to its literal meaning: "Carver Bamboo."