The peaceful scene in this uchiwa-e (rigid fan print) design by Hiroshige is set in the Nippori district in the northern part of Edo. The view of geese descending over an expanse of rice paddies is taken from the eastern edge of the high ground extending from the Suwa Bluff to Mount Dokan. The latter takes its name from Ota Dokan (1432-1486), the medieval warlord who established an outpost here to protect the fortress he had built on what subsequently became the site of Edo Castle. Farmhouses and haystacks can be seen in the middle distance, while the mountains silhouetted on the horizon are those of the Nikko range, 200 kilometres to the north. The basket visible in the immediate foreground is filled with small earthenware plates like the one that the girl rolling up her sleeve can be seen to be about to throw off the edge of the bluff. Known as kawarake-nage, literally 'earthenware throwing', this was a popular pastime that still survives in parts of Japan today. The design is one of a complete set of eight prints owned by the V&A. The Hakkei ('Eight Views') formula was a popular one, having its ultimate source in Chinese paintings of the Xiao and Xiang rivers. It was originally used in Japan in the form of poetic and painterly references to eight famous sites around Lake Biwa in south-west Japan’s Omi Province (modern Shiga Prefecture).