The Waterfall at Ono on the Kisokaidō Road

Ono Falls is near the town of Agematsu in Nagano Prefecture. In Hokusai’s time, it was between the post towns of Suhara and Agematsu on the Kisokaidō, the roadway linking the historical capital of Kyoto with the shogun’s headquarters in Edo through the central mountains. With sixty-nine post towns strung along 320 miles, the Kisokaidō was a picturesque if arduous route. In this view, a small Shinto shrine stands on a rocky promontory near the falls. The Japanese have traditionally believed that remarkable natural phenomena indicate the presence of a kami, or Shinto god, and waterfalls were often a destination for religious adepts, who purified themselves beneath the icy torrents. The people in this image, however, seem to be ordinary travelers, happy to marvel at the falls from the safety of the bridge.