The accompanying 1830s woodblock print by Hasegawa Settan, titled "The Rokugo Ferry," shows a ferry that has just embarked on a crossing of the Tama River, taking about a dozen passengers and a horse to Kawasaki on the far shore. The two men dashing in vain to get on the boat will not be disappointed for long, as other ferries will soon be there to shuttle them across to Kawasaki, the second post station on the Tokaido highway.
Now a mostly forgotten corner of southern Tokyo on the river's tidal estuary, Rokugo used to be the busiest and strategically most important river crossing on the ancient route between Edo and Kyoto. Eight boats were in service there from sunrise till sunset, transporting a constant stream of travelers as well as visitors to Kawasaki Daishi, a popular Buddhist temple on the riverside.
In addition, when a daimyo lord passed by on the annual journey he was required by the shogunate to make between Edo and his provincial domain -- together with his retinue of hundreds or thousands of men, their mounts and pack animals -- more boats would be brought in from surrounding villages.