通船立場　堀とめのわたし　新所迄舟渡六里

About this print

A boat carrying passengers and a boat loaded with cargo have come in to a landing with stone steps. The curtains and signs of the shops on the bank bear the word "tateba." A tateba was a place on the road where porters and palanquin (kago) bearers rested, and from the Meiji era the word also meant a stop for rickshaws and horse-drawn carriages. The artist is Utagawa Hiroshige III, and this is one print from Tokai Meisho Kaisei Dochuki (Famous Places of the Tokaido, Revised Travel Guide), published in 1875 (Meiji 8). The National Diet Library titles it Kaisei Gojusan Eki (The Fifty-three Stations, Revised).

"Horidome no watashi" on the tag means the landing on the Horidome Canal in Hamamatsu. Digging on the canal began in the 4th month of 1871 (Meiji 4), and it was finished by late in the 7th month. The next year, boats began running to Shinjo on the west shore of Lake Hamana, and in 1876 (Meiji 9), it is said, a small steamboat burning firewood also came into service. The "roku ri" (6 ri) on the tag is about 23 kilometers.

Glossary