The springtime scene in this uchiwa-e (rigid fan print) design by Hiroshige is the Saga area in the northwestern part of Kyoto. The topographic features, though somewhat stylized, are recognisable as the Hozu river with Arashiyama and the Tonase Waterfall in the background. The spit of land immediately behind the boat is Nakanoshima, the narrow island that in most depictions of this locale is shown linked by the Togetsu Bridge. The bridge's omission here is deliberate--an allusion to a scene in the popular illustrated novel Nise Murasaki Inaka Genji, which is set in the fifteenth century.
Prince Genji, who is poling the boat along the river, sports a distinctively peaked forelock and is dressed, like his female companion, in richly ornamented robes. The so-called Genji-ko symbols in the heart-shaped cartouche of the picture title correspond to the Matsukaze and Hanachirusato chapters of The Tale of Genji.