[Gathering seaweed at] Omori

歌川国芳 『東都名所』「大森」

The familiar sights of Edo (present-day Tokyo) were popular print subjects throughout the nineteenth century. This print takes us onto Edo Bay in the district known as Omori. Wispy clouds fill the sky as a skiff holding two women floats beside a bed of upright branches. Inserted into the bay’s gentle current, the branches were used to cultivate the seaweed that was harvested in winter to make Asakusa nori, a famous Edo product. One of the women plucks seaweed from a branch with special chopsticks, while the other uses a rake to gently lift strands into a basket. Another boat is just visible beyond a second cultivation bed on the right.