Hiroshige depicts one of the training grounds in the north-western suburb of Edo, built in 1636 by order of the third shogun Iemiju in the territory of the house of Owari. Its length was 650 meters, and width – 55 meters. Not only samurai training took place here, but also competitions in archery of jabusame.
On the front of the engraving a picture of a round target covered with leather is put forward, arrows lie next to them – they do not stick to the target, because the point was wrapped in a cloth. On the right are three archers shooting at the target. In the center of the sheet, in the background, two horsemen are depicted, they rush along the road that surrounds the site. To the south of the arena was the shrine of Anairimangu, dedicated to the deity – patron of archery. Each of the shoguns once during his reign held here competitions in archery.
On the north side of the arena were planted pine trees, as protection from the wind. In the shade of the trees you can see the roofs of tea houses and restaurants. On the horizon, the Fuji cone is white. In the early version of the engraving, the tree in the foreground on the left is much darker than in the late one. At the same time, the overall color of the late leaf became more saturated. The color of the square cartouche also changed: it became gray-blue instead of yellow.
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