Hodogaya, which is a little less than three miles distant from Kanagawa, is now a part of the city of Yokohama.
Until 1597 there were joined into one. Since the red seal near the upper center of this print reads "Shimmachi Bridge," it appears that the setting was the approach to Shimmachi, one of the original three stopovers. The reisho and gyösho versions show the same bridge from different angles, and we may probably suppose that it was the only local landmark that Hiroshige deemed worthy of depicting.
Two of the men on the bridge are carrying a passenger in a closed palanquin. The man in light garments, whose head is covered with a large basket, is a member of a Buddhist sect whose devotees wandered about the countryside playing bamboo flutes and, often, asking for alms. Beyond the bridge there is a boxlike lantern, the writing on which is an advertisement for buckwheat noodles. Altogether this is a charming view of a peaceful  country town.