Suzuki Harushige, Nihon Embankment, ca. 1770.

The most common way to get to Yoshiwara was to take a boat along the Sumida River, get out at the San'ya Ditch, and then walk or be carried along the pathway atop the Nihon Embankment (which kept the swamp waters out of Yoshiwara) to the Great Gateway of Yoshiwara. Once through the gateway, the traveler would descend a slope into the Yoshiwara.

In this scene, courtesans rest while the lone figure of an umbrella-engulfed man struggles along the embankment in a downpour toward the Great Gateway. The scene, of course, resonates with multiple layers of sexual overtones. It was an artistic convention to depict the embankment only when bathed in moonlight at night or in a rainstorm--both obvious yin symbols. Notice also the poem-containing cloud running across the top of the print and the water patterns on the luxurious robe draped over the room divider.