
This design, like a number of others by Utagawa Hiroshige, is known in other versions: one printed entirely in grayish tints (as here), and one printed in a range of soft greens and browns. Normally, prints produced with a monochromatic palette are thought to have been made earlier than more colorful versions. However, a close examination of this sheet alongside others with the color scheme described above indicates that the monochromatic version of the design is probably later than the state with more color.

Komurasaki of the Miuraya and Shirai Gompachi (Miuraya Komurasaki, Shirai Gompachi)
Kitagawa Utamaro 喜多川 歌麿 Japanese, c.1753-1806

Hamamatsu, from the series "Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi)," also known as the Tokaido with Poem (Kyoka iri Tokaido)
Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川 広重 Japanese, 1797-1858

Mitsuke: Ferries Crossing the Tenryu River (Mitsuke, Tenryugawa funawatashi), from the series "Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi)," also known as the Tokaido with Poem (Kyoka iri Tokaido)
Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川 広重 Japanese, 1797-1858