When Basho visited the place, the river was running high, and he had to wait for a boat to take him across. When one finally became available, he saw riffles and rocks on the surface of the rapidly running river as he crossed. In those days, rice and safflower were transported by ship from Yamagata to Kyoto and clothes and jewelry from the capital to various places located upstream. Michael Yamashita patiently waited on the riverside to take the perfect photo. Boats went slowly up the extremely winding river, which was not running very fast. The summer sky was very clear.