Kanasugi Bridge and Shibaura, No. 80 from One Hundred Famous Views of Edo

This colorful procession is a group of Nichiren Buddhists crossing the Kanasugi Bridge along the stretch of coast known as Shibaura. The autumn season assigned to the print suggests that it is Oeshiki, the thirteenth day of the Tenth Month, the day Nichiren, the founder of this particular Buddhist sect, died in 1282. Whether the procession is en route to or returning from its destination, the temple where Nichiren died, is unclear. Perhaps what Hiroshige has done is to show the two faces of the pilgrimage: the exuberant setting out under fluttering banners in the foreground, and the exhausted return of the pilgrims in the background, huddled under hats and umbrellas.