Temple Gardens, Nippori, No. 14 in One Hundred Famous Views of Edo

In the mid-eighteenth century three Buddhist temples in Yanaka, an area on the outskirts of Edo, entered into a friendly competition of creating unusual gardens to lure visitors from downtown Edo every spring. They became collectively known as the "Flower Temples" or the "Temple Gardens" of Nippori. Hiroshige has depicted one temple, Shūshōin, that was famous for its curious arrangement of artificial mountains and fantastically shaped rocks and trees.

What identifies this scene as that site? Against the right margin, above Hiroshige's signature, is a topiary boat, a well-known attraction of Shūshōin. This telltale clue would have immediately identified the place to an Edo audience.