From the Edo period through to the Taisho period, Mikawashima (now Higashi-Nippori, Arakawa Ward), located north of Shin Yoshiwara, was a habitat for cranes. Every November, when the red-crowned and red-crowned cranes arrive, a bamboo enclosure is set up and the cranes are fed. It is a scene that is hard to imagine today, but originally the area north of Yoshiwara was a wetland area overgrown with reeds, making it a good feeding spot for the cranes. It was also the hunting grounds for the Tsuru no Onari ceremony, in which the Shogun would capture cranes while falconrying and present them to the Imperial Court.
The red-crowned crane is a large bird with a wingspan of over one ken, and Hiroshige used “kurasuri” (sky-sliding) to create the three-dimensional effect of the crane’s large wings. The image of the crane flapping its fluffy feathers is very lively.