A resting stop on the Tōkaidō (the Eastern Sea Road connecting present-day Tokyo and Kyoto), Mariko is more than a generic teahouse. In this woodcut, the white vertical sign in front of the teahouse advertises the house’s meibutsu, or specialty: tororo-jiru (a soup made from grated mountain potatoes). Mariko’s specialty, immortalized in a haiku by the famous Matsuo Bashō, was well known throughout the Edo period and, as seen in this print, travelers stopped by the teahouse to order tororo-jiru along with their tea. Though Mariko is just a simple hut on the road, the artist’s keen sense of illustration brings alive the two travelers, happily eating while a serving woman with a baby sleeping on her back waits on them.