One Hundred Famous Views of Edo No.107Fukagawa Susaki 300,000 square metres

The area depicted in this print, Fukagawa Susaki, is located in the southeastern part of Edo on the southern edge of a delta formed by three rivers flowing east of the city: the Sumida, Naka and Tone.
The area was a swamp overgrown with reeds and uninhabitable at the beginning of the Edo period. In 1723, two tradesmen applied to the shogunate to reclaim about 300,000 square metres of land to make into a paddy field. Upon obtaining approval, they started to fill in the swamp with refuse which they collected from the centre of the city and carried here by boat. The project took three years to complete.
In 1796, at the enthusiastic request of a lord named Hitotsubashi of the Tokugawa family, the shogun approved the transfer of the land. The lord built his mansion on one corner of the grounds and gave his name to the land.
When Hiroshige drew this print towards the end of the Edo period, the area was still as dreary as ever and even attracted wild birds such as hawks. In order to emphasize the dreariness, he has chosen a snow scene in winter. A hawk that is shown at close range is in the upper half of the print. It seems that it has sighted some game on the ground and is about to fly down to catch its prey. The desolate area is covered extensively with snow and, in the far distance rising high above the horizon, lies a snow-covered Mt. Tsukuba.