This is a work depicting the opening of the fish market which took place in Nihonbashi on January 2. While there were many different kinds of fish laid out and a great bustling crowd on a regular basis, on the opening day, the shops were lined up to Edobashi.

On New Year's day, there would be few people out on the streets in Edo and most would have spent New Year's day lying in bed. People would emerge on the second day of the year. This was also the day for the children's kakizome, calligraphy written at the start of the year, and the first cargo of the year to arrive in the shops. Known as first business/first sales, various premium goods would be given to regular customers for free. This bustling activity was especially evident on the first sales at the fish market. The morning market on the second day of the year was, as shown in the picture, packed with full of customers.
It is possible to trace the origin of the Nihonbashi fish market back to the early Edo period. As soon as the Shogunate was set up in Edo, Tokugawa Ieyasu summoned fishermen from Tsukuda-mura in Osaka to supply the kitchens of Edo castle and gave them a privilege to carry out fishing within Edo bay. The fish caught by the fishermen were delivered to the Shogun's household and the remainder would be sold in Nihonbashi.
After this, the Nihonnbashi fish market, before it was later moved to Tsukiji due to the damage it took in the Great Kanto Earthquake, boomed as the kitchen of Edo as well as Tokyo.