The Nihonbashi quarter was located around the Nihonbashi bridge. Here there were dwellings and shops of the most successful Edo merchant class, for example, the trading houses of the houses of Mitsubisi, Mitsui, Mitsukoshi, and the names of some of them are known now. The flourishing of urban art would have been impossible without the patronage of the rich merchant class. Mostly in Nihonbasi traded in manufactory. On the noreen curtains in the engraving on the right are the trade mark and the name of the firm “Sirogia”, one of the main firms selling cotton fabrics; now it is called Tokehyakken. Behind her, in the engraving, is the restaurant “Tokean”, which sold noodles from buckwheat flour.
A messenger from this restaurant is beside him with a tray on his shoulder. In the right part is a melon dealer. Passersby are walking along the street under paper umbrellas. In the center of the composition, under a huge umbrella – a group of performers of the dance “Sumiesi-odori” – “Dance of the Sanctuary of Sumiesi.” The attribute of this dance was a large umbrella. Next to them comes a woman in a cotton kimono with a shamisen in her hands. The green strip in the first version of the engraving acquired a rounded shape in the second. The character of the color of the sky has also changed: the sunset on the horizon passes through the brightened sky into the dark red strip of the bokashi from above. The color of the cartouche has been redesigned.
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