edo no kuramae 江戸の蔵前 (kuramae – front of the warehouses) asakusabashi 浅草橋

8/7/2019 Edo no Kuramae (Kuramae – front of the warehouses) Asakusabashi

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Translated and appended from http://www.maroon.dti.ne.jp/~satton/taitou-edo/kuramae-

edo.html

Edo no

Kurame(Kuramae

± front of the warehouses)



To provide protection for the benefit of Edo Castle one of the castle¶s approach routes passedthrough gate number thirty six, the Asakusa Mikado. This section was part of the combinedNikk-shKaid (road), the route established by Tokugawa Ieyasu to link Edo with Mutsu(Fukushima) Province (shKaid) and Edo with Nikk (NikkKaid) and was extensivelyused by Sensji¶s pilgrims, tourists and visitor to the Yoshiwara Pleasure Quarters.

4. Yanagibashi (Bridge)

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http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/:Yanagiba01.jpg

Right: early Meiji Era photo showing the view of the Kanda River from the bridgeThe wooden railings were of the Hyapponkui, one hundred piles, type

The original bridge was constructed before the shitamachi (downtown) Great Genroku Fire of 1697 (Genroku 10) during what was considered the Golden Age of the Edo period, theGenroku era (1688 ± 1704). Edo era¶s Yanagibashi was a Geisha area with manyrestaurants. The current bridge was built in 1929. On the approach to the bridge were mainlyinns for sailors busy going to and from the Yoshiwara Pleasure Quarters and there were

many chokibune (µboar tusk boat¶ because of its shape), long flat river boats which were usedto transport people, food, drink and entertainment in the form of musicians and Geisha andalso used for cherry blossom viewing etc. During the Mei ji Era (1868 ± 1912) this was one of Tky¶s most renowned entertainment districts.

5. DairokutenSakakiJinja (Shrine)

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http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/:DairokutenSakakiJinja.JPG

This is DairokutenSakakiJinja. Dairokuten means the devil. In the year Meiji 2 (1869) theshrine was renamed SakakiJinja. Up until the year Meiji 3 (1870), the shrine was near Asakusa¶s Library. It was moved north to Kuramae 1 Chme, near Sukahashi bridge kban(Police Box). The current shrine was built in 1928. When translated Sakaki means the



branches of an evergreen tree used in Shinto ritual. It is here that the ritual of Mameki takesplace every February. Mameki are dried beans which are scattered to drive out bad luck andcall in good luck.

6. Shinozuka (Inari) Jinja (Shrine)

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This shrine is dedicated to one of a samurai Shitenn (groups of four famous historicalprotector figures), Shinozuka Iga (no-Kami), who was the protector ofNitta Yoshisada (1301 -1338) and the Nitta clan and was one of Yoshida¶s vassals. Now it¶s a tiny hokora (smallshrine). At the beginning of the Meiji era it was a terakoya (temple elementary school),Shinozuka primary school.

7. Ichga Oka HachimanJinja (The Hachiman Shrine of Ginkgo Hill)

åå

Currently located in Fukuimachi 1 chme, the enshrined deity isEmperor jin (Hachiman,

God of War). MinamotonoYoriyoshi (988 - 1075) and his son HachimanTar (Minamotono)Yoshiieboth prayed hereafter the traitor Kugy, nephew and assassin of Minamoto noSanetomo, was executed at TsurugaokaHachiman-g(the most important Hachiman Shrine inKamakura, which was founded by Yoriyoshi). At the time it was located on a hill surroundedby Ginkgo trees and overlooked the upper reaches of a branch of the Sumida River. Near here a house of the Matsudaira clan once stood.

8. SasaDango (Bamboo Grass Dumpling) TennUsai (SugaJinja)



Currently called SugaJinja, this reputable shrine presently has various popular names such asGozutenn (Indian Deity Gavagriva), TorigoeTenn Yashiro, Gionsha and so on. Theenshrined deity has eight heads and tails. In general it is popularly referred to asDangoTenn. SasaDangoare rice dumplings made with mugwort and sweet red adzukibeans. Legend has it that a farmer prayed for his daughter here and, after she was cured of

the plague, made an offering of twelve dango here, one for each of year of their daughter¶sage.

9. Torigoebashi (Bridge)

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The Sumidagawa (river) fed into the Torigoegawa at a place near the Torigoe Bridge, whichwas also known as Tennbashi (bridge). Near here was an area which became known as theTorigoe execution grounds where criminals arrived from the local prison to face their death

after crossing what was referred to as Jigokubashi ( - Hell Bridge). It was here thatKosaka Jinnai was executed (see 13 Jinnaibashi ± below). In the late Edo era the Torigoe

Bridge was called the Suga Bridge and flowed along the same route as

KuramaebashiStreet to the east of Edo Street.

10. Asakusa Okura (Tokugawa Government Granaries)



The Tokugawa granaries were built so that the nationwide rice production areas which wereunder direct control of the Shgun were managed by the O-Edo Bakufu who controlled therice harvest, bought the rice and set the annual rice taxes and the price of rice. The rice wasstored in large granaries which stretched alongside the river in this area. Torigoe jinja¶s hill

was levelled and the land reclaimed and eight canals were built alongside each of thewarehouses in all probability with a gate on each. Most of the wholesale rice dealers of Kuramae would have bought and sold using the promissory notes provided by lower rankingHatamoto, a samurai in direct service of the Shgun, as collateral with the long rows of localmoney lenders whose shops existed in profusion in the area.

11. Shubi no matsu (Shubi Pine Tree)

The How-Did-You-Fare pine tree appeared to those in chokibune (µboar tusk boat¶ ± becauseof their shape) on the Sumida River who were visiting the Yoshiwara red light district. Todaythere are a few young pine trees and a stone monument to mar k the spot

12. Torigoegawa (River)

The remains of Shamisen Moat, 1 chome 5, kojima

The Torigoe river ran, together with the Ningawa, from Shinobazu Pond (in Ueno Par k)flowing east past a neighbourhood of samurai residences to an important Meiji era (1868 ±1912) trading post, the Shamisen Canal (because of its shape). The Shamisen Canal, thepresent day north-south of Kiyosubashi Street, along the western side of Kojima 1 Chme,was the starting point of the southern channel of the Torigoegawa and was in the vicinity of what is presently Torigoe 1 chme where, as it flowed east, it became the Shinhorigawa



Canal before flowing into the Sumidagawa River. It acted as a thoroughfare for boatstransporting goods to the Sumidagawa River but was eventually filled in during the Taisho era(1912 ± 1926)

13. Jinnaibashi (Bridge)

The Jinnai Bridgewas also named after a local shrine. The TorigoeRiver, named

after a local shrine in Taito-ku, flowed through the Asakusa Kuramaearea and under the bridge. The area has a history of kawata (leather wor kers) an µethnic¶ group then

commonly referred to using the derogative eta and in today¶s Japan referred to as burakumin

The Jinnai shrine was named after, and dedicated to, Kosaka Jinnai, a disciple of

the legendary swordsman Miyamoto Musashi. He was accused of breaching public order andsentenced to death. Before being executed he contracted malaria and promised that if anyone prayed to him they would be cured of the same disease. For a fictionalised account of Jinnai¶s life, torture and death see James S De Benneville¶s translation of the Japanese ghoststory µBakemonoYashiki¶http://www.gutenberg.org/files/19945/19945-h/19945-h.htm#Page_201

14. TorigoeJinja(Shrine)

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*

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/:TorigoeJinja.JPG



Originally an ancient tomb mound on an island in Tait ward, in 1620 the land was levelledand the earth used as landfill for the building of the Bakufu¶skura (rice storehouses). Duringthe evening of the Torigoe Shrine Festival in early June the local parishioners carry sixportable shrines, mikoshi, around the neighbourhood and on the final day the shrines,including the SenganOkoshi weighing 4 tons, return at dusk, preceded by lanterns held onlong poles by seemingly mournful singing bearers. A new year¶s celebration is also held here,called the Tondojuki Fire ceremony

15. () Jnen-ji (Temple)

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Descriptions of O-Edo¶s topography and culture were compiled by Mishima

Masayuki (1780 ± 1856), a Tokugawa Hatamoto and cartographer, who is buried

here. Also buried here is Chiyonoyama (Masanobu) (1926 ± 1977) the founder of the Sumo stable Kokonoebeya and the sport¶s 41

styokozuna (highest rank in pro sumo)

Mishima Masayuki (1780 ±

1856)ó

15

1818

91826

51872

S3185692

977

Mishima Masayuki , whose popular name is Shz, was a good, warm and

friendly old man who¶s pen name was Totsu Hitoshi and who had a reputation as a

leader. For a while he was away from home residing in one of the west baileys, Nishimaru, of

Edo Castle. MishimaSeishun no Rokurowas born in O-Edo

UshikoshiFunagawaraMachi (in Shinjuku).

On the occasion of his 15th

year the neighbouring O-Odasu Masayo family branch adopted

him as their son. In the 1st

year (1818) of the Bunsei era (1818 ± 1830) he became a guard inthe neighbouring Gosho in (Imperial Palace) and then subsequently he suddenly became

gashira (headman) of Kiyomizuden (Kiyomizu-do Kannon Temple, overlookingShinobazu Pond in Ueno Par k).

In the 9th

year (1826) of the Bunsei era because of the rapid expansion of O-Edo¶s city limits

he began a compilation of studies into the area¶s topography ( GoFunaiUchiFudoki ± A Description of the Culture, Climate etc of the City of Edo), a task which

took three years to complete. Another document ( Go FunaiBik - Notes on theCity limits of Edo) survived a major fire in the 5

thyear (1872) of the Meiji era (1868 ± 1912).

Others, Shheiji from the Office of Funerals and Ceremonial occasions and

Hayashi Jussai also played leading roles in putting together another compilation

(Shin Hen MusashiFdo Ki K ± Musashi¶s New Compilation of Historical



Topographical Manuscripts) and (Shin Hen Sagami* KokuFdo Ki K -New Compilation of Historical Manuscripts of the Customs and Manners of Sagami*).Amongst other publications he also participated in the planning and publication of another

compilation (Kasai Shi ± Kasai Journal) considered to be one of his greatest

achievements. In the 3rd

year (1856) of the Ansei era (1854 ± 1860) on the 29th

September,

aged 77 he passed away. (Tky to KyikuIinkai ± Tky MetropolitanArea Education Committee)

* Probably Sagami Bay, Kanagawa

Chiyonoyama (Masanobu) (1926 ± 1977) - Born the son of a fisherman inFukushima, Hokkaid. He became the sport¶s 41

styokozuna (Grand Champion) in May 1953.

After losing a battle to take over the Dewanoumibeya Sumo stable he set up Kokonoebeya inMarch 1967 where he was joined by Kitanofuji, the sports 52

ndyokozuna, and the future

58thyokozuna, Chiyonofuji

16. Ryhji (Temple)

Grave of the middle Edo period poet SenryuHachiemonKarai (poetry pen name Senryu or River Willow, 1718 ± 1790) who, as the head of O-Edo¶s Asakusa village of Abekawamachinear Ryhji Temple, was a noted government official and one of about twenty respectedjudges of Maekuzuke verse (a humorous or satiric poem dealing with human affairs). Hepopularised the 5-7-5 syllable Senryu verse form, a sub-genre of Haiku, that emergedfromMaekuzuke that bears his name. Only 3% of the 2,300,00 stanzas he judged wereselected to be published in the 23 annual volumes of the collection called HaifuYanagidaru.The temple is popularly referred to as Senryuji

17. Saifukuji (Temple)



The painter Katsushika Hokusai¶s teacher, painter and print maker KatsukawaShunsh (1726± 1792) is buried here in plot 4-16-16. He was famous for his yakusha-e portraits of Kabukiactors and Bijinga images of beautiful women. KatsukawaShunsh was his pen name, hisoriginal name being KatsumiyagawaYsuke. Early in Meiji 3 (1870) the premises were turnedinto a public institution; a primary school. The area around here used to be known as SomeiYoshino Mura ± Yoshino Cherry Tree village because of the cultivation of Yoshino

Cherry trees, Somei, in the area that were also grown on either side of the streets in

unbroken lines and still grow in profusion in the temple grounds

18. Hottahara (Hotta field)

The residence of the Miyagawa branch Daimy of the Hotta family from the mi region(Shigaken ± Shiga Prefecture, Kinki area) was located here in an open field covered withweeds. To the east was the Bakufu¶s horse riding ground and target practice fields. The name

of Umayabashi had already been established.HottaMasayasu (1848-1911; ) was the

eighth natural son of Lord of the Iwaki Takanaga Kameda clan. He was adoptedby HottaMasasato. In 1863 he was head of the Miyagawa branch of the family. After 1868, heserved in the administration of Tky wor king as a district official. In the first parliamentaryelections in 1890 he was elected to the House of Lords and became a leader of the Kenkyu-kai Party.

19. maya (Government Stables) Watashi (Ferry)

Katsushika Hokusai

Established in the middle of the Edo period the eight ferry boats operated by fourteenmaintained the ferry services for over 180 years. The ferry service was named after nearbystables where horses were kept for transporting rice for the granaries. In the 17th century, theTokugawa Shogunate used the riverbank south of Komagata for a horse stable (umaya).Horses were an important part of the warriors' life and were in great demand for travel and

other purposes. In1872 there was an accident when one of the ferries capsized carryingpeople and their flower purchases. In 1874 a toll bridge was built and the ferry service ceased

20. SuwaJinja (Shrine)



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This was a subsidiary shrine of the ShinshShimosuwa(Lake SuwanearShinano, Nagano

Prefecture). Established a very long time ago an old chronicle tells of it being destroyed byfire after which it was never rebuilt. Near here, in 1958, the literary master NatsumeSseki

(1867 ± 1916) took a room at Sachi-so´ of Suwa-chin Asakusa, andstayed at his father in law¶s house in the neighbourhood until Meiji 7/8 (1874/1875)

21. Komagata-d

Komagata-do was probably first built in 942 when Lord TairaKimmasa donated the main hall,pagoda and other buildings as a generous tribute to AsakusaKannon Temple. This smallshrine, dedicated to the Horse-headed Kannon (koma means horse), was a favourite themefor artists and writers. Hiroshige's wood block depiction of this shrine has been reproduced onmetal plates on the downstream side of the bridge. The current building is a Ferro concreteaffair built in 1933.

22. HottaYashiki (residence)

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Illustration of HottaYashiki Gardens by J BayneFrom µThe Land of the Morning¶, William Gray Dixon, published 1882, Edinburgh

This was the site of the residence of HottaBuzen-no-kami (kami was the courtesy titlereflecting the highest ranking person with responsibility for Buzen province). During the timeof O-Edo (Tky) in Sakura, Shimsa province (Chiba prefecture) there was a self -sacrificingman who was known to be aligned with the peasants, Sakura Sgor (1605 ± 1653. Realname Kiuchi) to whom a memorial hall has been built. Because of the suffering cause by themassive taxes imposed on the peasants by their Daimyo Hotta Masanobu (1632 ± 1680)Sgor appealed directly to the Shogun and was executed for his impropriety. As a result of this dreadful misfortune a shrine was built for the repose of dead souls. The story was made

into a Kabuki play, Sakura Giminden (Sakura the Martyr)



http://www.kabuki21.com/sakura_giminden.php

23. ()TakaharaYashiki (residence)

.

()()

,()2(1653),

()(

)

The site of the former Takahara Residence at 2 chome Kotobuki

TakaharaHeibei was an early Edo era potter. Around about the Keich era (1596 ± 1615) the

demand for tea utensils from Setsu¶sNose district (now part of the Osaka metropolitan area)was extremely high. In the 1653, the 2

ndyear of the J era (1652 ± 1655)TakaharaHeibei

was invited to appear in O-Edo and became the neighbour and tea utensils specialist of Shgun Tokugawa Ietsuna. Takahara ceramics (also known as Asakusa ceramics) wasfounded in front of AsakusaHonganji. It is thought that TakaharaHeibeioriginated in Higo(Kumamoto prefecture, Kyshu) and was thought to make other things as well. He wasbestowed this plot of land which was known as the TakaharaYashiki which became amerchant¶s residence in the middle of town. The site is now located in Kotobuki 2

chome()

24. Monzekimae (in front of Monzeki Temple)

During the Meireiki era (1655 ± 1658), after passing through Kanda, the great fire of March2

nd1657, also known as the Furisode Fire, arrived at the JdoShinsh (off shoot of Jdo sect)

Temple, presently Tky¶s (Shin sect) Honganji Templeneighbourhood. Honganji wasa Monzeki, a temple at which a priest of Imperial or Noble lineage was installed. There aretraces of the Honji and also the Tmon (east gate), AsakusaMonzeki and a few other elements. It was said that the total area of the site was 15,000 tsubo (3.31 sq meters). TheShinsh School was the mightiest of the Bakufu¶s schools of Buddhism and is still the most



widely practiced in Japan, as opposed to the JdoSh School the second most widelypractised form of Buddhism in Japan

25. Kikuyabashi (bridge)

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Kikuyabashi (bridge -)circa 1907, and now

Irya, now a rather peaceful area of older houses with traditional charm, was an area of ricepaddies and is associated with a story about a local gardener who planted morning glories

(asagao - ) in various parts of the area. The water for Iriya¶s rice paddies was gatheredfrom the Shinogawariver which flowed along what is now KappabashiDgu Street. The

Shinhorigawa River was crossed by a bridge which was located near a Kikuya sweet shopcalled Chinamu. Now the name Kikuyabashi only remains as the name for the local police boxor kban called the Kikuyabashikban.

26. Senkyji (Temple)

Here is the tomb of Katsushika Hokusai (1750 ± 1849) the Ukiyo-e artist and pioneer of theKatsushika School made famous during the latter part of the O-Edo period. Together withHiroshige he began painting highly praised and fluent landscape masterpieces (Thirty-six

views of Mt. Fuji by Hokusai). A lot of the wor k was exported to Europe greatly influencing theFrench Impressionists.

27. ()

Ryfuku in (ji - temple) 3 chome 17 2, Moto Asakusa(17)

Ô



The burial place of KiyochikaKoboyashi (1847 ± 1915), µthe last Ukiyo-e artist¶ who combinedtraditional Ukiyo-e with modern Western styles and who fought on the side of the Shgunate

during the Boshin Wars ( BoshinSens) the outcome of which heralded the fall of theTokugawa Shgunate, the decline of the samurai, the ascendancy of the Emperor and theadvent of the Meiji Era and Japan¶s entry onto the stage of the modern World order

http://goshuin.ko-kon.net/gofunai88/82_ryufuku-in.html (Japanese)

28. Shinhorigawa (River) Tky ()Shinhoridoori ()

During the flood of (1910)

At http://www.maroon.dti.ne.jp/~satton/taitou-imamukasi/sinborigawa.html

Shin Hori was the name of a village in this location now incorporated into Shishibone ( ±the remains of deer. Named after the deer which were brought from the Kasuga Grand Shrinein Nara and which were buried here after they died). The river was built to prevent flooding in

the early 19th

century by a merchant, KihachiKappaya (ð).

29. Abekawach

An old Edo Street, Abekawach no longer exists having been absorbed into the currentneighbourhood in 1936. The southern half was absorbed into Kotobuki 1-chome and thenorthern half into Kotobuki 2-chome

Magoz Inari Shrine



The compilation Go FunaiBik - Notes on the City limits of Edo by Mishima

Masayuki (see 15 above) states that the neighbourhood here was calledAbekawach because a shrine was moved here from Abekawa in Shizuoka prefecture. Theoriginal shrine was destroyed twice, once during the Great Kant Earthquake of 1923 and the

second time during the Tky air raids of World War II. On the 8th

March there is a festival atthe shrine.

Legend has it that Tokugawa Ieyasu, the 1st

of the Tokygawa Shoguns, was crossing theAbegawa River when he handed his horses reigns to a man called Magozo who, it later

turned out, was the incarnation of the Inari (fox) deity of the Magozo shrine near the AbegawaRiver.

Photographic images published before December 31st 1956, or photographed before 1946 and not

published for 10 years thereafter, under jurisdiction of the Government of Japan, are considered to be

public domain according to article 23 of old copyright law of Japan and article 2 of supplemental

provision of copyright law of Japan

edo no kuramae 江戸の蔵前 (kuramae – front of the warehouses) asakusabashi 浅草橋

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