No. 5: Noda River in Mutsu Province, from the series "Six Jewel Rivers of the Floating World (Ukiyo Mu Tamagawa)" c. 1769

This is "No. 5: Noda River in Mutsu Province," a woodblock print made by Kitao Shigemasa. Here, under a downpour, two figures are sheltered by an umbrella as birds take flight around them. Consider the umbrella—a symbol of protection, status, and refuge. This motif echoes across cultures and epochs, appearing in ancient Assyrian reliefs, where it shades royalty, to Renaissance paintings of the Madonna, under a protective canopy. The umbrella’s presence speaks to an enduring human desire for shelter, both physical and spiritual. The birds, too, are laden with symbolism. They are archetypes of freedom, messengers between realms, linking the earthly and the celestial. Birds appear in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs as symbols of the soul, and in medieval Christian art, they represent divine presence. Their flight stirs a deep, perhaps unconscious yearning for transcendence. Observe how these symbols resonate across time, shifting and evolving, yet remaining deeply rooted in our collective psyche.