1877 Inoue Ukiyo-e View of Asakusa and Ryogoku, Tokyo, w/ Sensō-ji

A scarce and highly distinctive 1887 bifurcated ukiyo-e triptych view of the Sensō-ji in Asakusa and the Ryōgoku neighborhood of Tokyo by Inoue Yasuji. Juxtaposing Tokyo's oldest temple alongside novelties like factories and mass transit, the view captures the spirit of the early Meiji era, when Tokyo was transformed into a modern city.

A Closer Look

This sheet is divided into a top and bottom half. The view at the top, oriented towards the east, depicts the Sensō-ji, also known as the Asakusa Kannon Temple, in the Asakusa neighborhood of Tokyo. It is often considered to be the oldest temple complex in Tokyo, though the structure has burned down and been rebuilt several times throughout its history (most recently after the March 10, 1945, firebombing of Tokyo). The Buddhist temple, dedicated to Kannon (the Bodhisattva of compassion), is seen at left in its brilliant red paint, surrounded by cherry blossoms and gardens. In front of it (to its right here) are the Senso-ji Hozomon Gate, the Five-Storied Pagoda, a bell tower (known as the Bell of Time ) on an island, the Nakamise-dōri walkway containing many small shops, and finally the Kaminarimon gate, leading out to the eponymous street. The street contains additional shops and horsecarts, an early form of mass public transportation. In the background on the right are the Azuma Bridge (Azumabashi) and the Sumida River.

The bottom view, oriented towards the northeast, displays the area around the intersection of the Kanda and Sumida Rivers. The stone bridge at the center in the foreground is the Asakusa Bridge, while the bridge at the right in the background is the Ryōgoku Bridge, leading across the Sumida River to the neighborhood of that name. Here, too, are horse trams, as well as other recent additions to Tokyo's urban landscape, including rickshaws, horse-drawn carriages, and a factory in the background at right. Further in the background, across the bridge in Ryōgoku, is the Ekōin Temple, a Pure Land Buddhist site. Ryōgoku, famous as a center of the sumo wrestling world, had largely burned down in a fire in 1881, which consumed, among other things, many of the works of Inoue's teacher, Kiyochika.

Meiji Era Tokyo

With the Meiji Restoration in 1868, the Tokugawa Shogunate was displaced from Edo, and the Emperor Meiji moved the imperial capital from Kyoto to Edo (renamed Tokyo, 'eastern capital'). The Meiji era was a period of tremendous change in Japan, particularly in cities, and in Tokyo more than any other. New ideas, technologies, and fashions from abroad were sought out and adopted with incredible rapidity and, in the process, were localized to suit Japanese tastes. Building on the foundations of Tokugawa Edo, Meiji-era Tokyo intermingled traditional architecture with styles reminiscent of Victorian London. However, much of Tokyo as it exists here would be destroyed in the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake.

Kaika-e (開化繪)

As this view highlights elements of change in Tokyo brought by Western influence, it could be considered part of the kaika-e subgenre of ukiyo-e.Kaika-e is the Edo / Tokyo equivalent of the Yokohama-e (橫濱繪) genre, depicting foreigners and foreign technologies in the wake of Japan's forcible opening to the world in the 1850s. The phrase 'kaika' is an abbreviation of bunmei-kaika (文明開化), meaning 'civilization and enlightenment,' a slogan and guiding philosophy of the early Meiji period. Kaika-e became especially popular in the 1870s and were encouraged by the Meiji government as a way of advertising the modernization of the new regime's capital city. As with Yokohama-e, common themes included Western-style or hybrid architecture, clothing, and new modes of transportation, as well as scenes of Japanese and foreigners fraternizing amicably.

Publication History and Census

This view was drawn by Inoue Yasuji (written as 安次 rather than 安治) and published by Matsuki Heikichi (松木平吉) in 1877 (Meiji 10). The work is quite scarce, only noted among the holdings of the Tokyo Metropolitan Library, Waseda University, the Edo-Tokyo Museum, the National Institutes of Japanese Literature, and the Chigasaki City Museum of Art.