The 56th Views of Utagawa Hiroshige’s “100 Famous Views of Edo” is Komagata-do Azumabashi Bridge, the original picture is here.
It seems that the picture varies considerably depending on the version of the print, and in the picture above it looks like a completely night scene, but in other prints the horizon is much brighter and it looks like dawn. Since there are birds flying, it can’t be night, so let’s say it’s fine to take a picture in the daytime, and so I chose a rainy day to go and take a picture of the original scene.
I took a photo of the roof facing the Sumida River from the Komagata-do shrine, which was rebuilt and stands at the base of the Komagata Bridge. But I couldn’t get the same bird’s-eye view as Hiroshige, couldn’t capture the Sumida River or Azumabashi Bridge in the frame, unfortunately there are no streamers (banners?) or cool-looking birds flying… and so the photo came out a bit dull.
I think I may have gone a bit too far in darkening the sky in the post-processing. I’m not getting anywhere.
Since we’re here, let’s go out to the riverside where the view is open and take a photo of the Azumabashi Bridge.
I wrote that Komagata-do stands at the base of Komagata Bridge, but the original Komagata-do of Senso-ji Temple was built here in 942 during the Heian period, so it has a ridiculous amount of history, while the bridge is much newer, having been built in 1927 (Showa 2). The hall in Hiroshige’s painting is probably the one that was rebuilt several times. Incidentally, the current hall was rebuilt in 2003, so if we’re talking about the current hall, it’s newer than the bridge.
That Komagata Bridge.
This is a failed photo because I took it in the rain and water droplets formed on the lens, but I thought it had a certain charm, so I’m leaving it as it is.
The location of this “100 Views” photo shoot
