This image is capturing a summer tradition located on the Ryogoku Bridge. Visitors about to ascend Mount Oyama first rinse themselves in the body of water, Sumida. This sacred ritual is an act of purification before they begin their forty-mile hike towards the south. Two boats, one visible on the right side and the other located at the bottom left corner, filled with people are completing the last acts of the ritual after they have completed the climb up the mountain. As they chant, they are also holding paper strips (gohei), which will later be passed throughout the streets of Edo. This sacred act on the river is accompanied by other boats going along their typical daily routine.