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Utagawa Hiroshige’s Beach Scene is a fantastic depiction of the integral role water played in the everyday life of the Edo period. Hiroshige creates a sense of expansiveness in this seemingly common scene, allowing the ocean to take on as important of a role as each of the six main figures. The printer utilized texture, contrast, and layering to both highlight the main figures and also allow them to be immersed in the immensity of the ocean. He went one step further by keeping the clothing of the distant figures the same blue as the ocean. This act makes the figures feel as though they are intrinsically tied to the landscape that surrounds them. (Clear Water: Encountering Mokuhanga, 2023)