Carp Over the Kanda River: “Suidō Bridge and Surugadai”

In Japan parents of boys celebrate Children’s Day on May 5 by unfurling carp-shaped streamers called koinobori as an expression of hope that their sons will grow up healthy and successful. Utagawa Hiroshige captured this tradition in “Suidō Bridge and Surugadai,” the forty-eighth print in his One Hundred Famous Views of Edo.

One Hundred Famous Views of Edo by Kichiya, the Ukiyo Photographer: Today’s Tokyo Through Hiroshige’s Eyes

Meisho Edo hyakkei, known in the West as One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, was one of ukiyo-e artist Utagawa Hiroshige’s most celebrated works, influencing even Western artists like Van Gogh and Monet. Drawn in Hiroshige’s final years and published from 1856 to 1861, the series depicted the sights of Edo (as Tokyo was then known) through the changing seasons. Audiences around the world admired Hiroshige’s inventive use of bold compositions, bird’s-eye-view perspectives, and vivid colors. A century and a half later, “ukiyo photographer” Kichiya has set himself the task of recreating each of these views with a photograph taken in the same place, at the same time of year, from the same angle. Join us in this new series at Nippon.com on a tour of these “famous views” in Edo and modern-day Tokyo, guided by Kichiya’s artistry and his knowledge of old maps and life in Edo.

A Symbol of Declining Samurai Power?

The waterway visible in Hiroshige’s print is the Kanda Jōsui. Known as the Kanda River today, the Tokugawa shogunate constructed the aqueduct starting in the late sixteenth century to improve the water supply for residents of the capital. The Suidō Bridge arches across the river to Surugadai, which maps from the Edo period (1603–1868) identify as a samurai neighborhood. Conspicuously absent from the picture are the wooden townhouses where merchants and other townspeople lived.

On Tango no Sekku, as the holiday is traditionally known, samurai families in Edo customarily hoisted banners and streamers decorated with their family crest or images of the fearsome guardian spirit Zhong Kui. Carp streamers, on the other hand, were strictly for townspeople.

Close examination of Hiroshige’s print reveals that the carp streamer’s pole is planted in the open space along the riverbank used as a firebreak. Considering that the fire department where Hiroshige worked before becoming a full-time artist was significantly reduced in size in the late Edo period, the artist’s decision to depict a large carp streamer in an area overlooking samurai mansions makes it seem as if he is mocking the decline in power and authority of the warrior class.

To take the photograph, I rose early on my first day off in May and brought my own carp streamer to Suidōbashi, as the area is known today. It took 400 shots before I was able to capture the streamer fluttering in the same way over the bridge as in the original print. I must have received some puzzled looks from passers-by, but I was too busy struggling with the wind to notice.

About the Location

The name Suidōbashi is said to date back to the early Edo period when the bridge straddled a wooden pipe funneling water from the Kōrakuen side to Kanda. Today, the name is also used for a station on the JR Chūō and Sōbu Lines. The area is home to many recreational facilities, including the Tokyo Dome, Japan’s first domed baseball stadium, and affiliated amusement park Tokyo Dome City as well as the onsen LaQua and betting facilities for national and regional horse races. Visitors can learn more about the history of the city’s water supply at the nearby Tokyo Waterworks Historical Museum and Hongō Reservoir Park, both of which offer striking views of the bridge.

Location

  • South end: 1 and 2 Kanda Misaki, Chiyoda, Tokyo
  • North end: 1 Kōraku and 1 Hongō, Bunkyō

Access Right next to Suidōbashi Station on the JR Chūō and Sōbu Lines.

tourism Tokyo ukiyo-e One Hundred Famous Views of Edo by Kichiya kantō