The 111th scene of Utagawa Hiroshige’s “One Hundred Famous Views of Edo” is Senzoku no Ike Kesagake Matsuo. The original picture is here.
The Kanji name of “Senzokuike” has changed, but the pond is still there, and the orijinal Kanji “Senzoku” is still used in the address notation (Minami Senzoku) for this area. The “Kesagake no matsu” pine tree is also preserved in the grounds of the Myofukuji temple (although it is highly likely that it has changed since then), so it was hoped that the “100 views” would be able to capture a “scenery unchanged since the olden days”, which is rare.
However, things didn’t go quite as smoothly as I had hoped, and the shooting conditions on location were quite harsh, so we were only able to get this much.
The position I wanted to take the photo from was the bicycle parking area at the boat house at Senzokuike Pond, and I managed to take the photo by sticking my hand through the wire mesh, but instead of the thatched roof of the original building, I was disturbed by an unsightly construction prefab, and the street trees growing above blocked the sky, and the grove where the “Kesa-gake no matsu” pine tree should be was also too big and blocked my view… Hmmm.
That said, it is nice that they have planted a small, well-shaped pine tree in the right place.
I imagine that it is the kindness of Myōfukuji or Shinagawa Ward that has said,
“We know you want a pine tree here.”
It makes my heart feel warm. There is a legend that famous high priest Nichiren stopped by this place, hung his kasaya on a pine tree, rested, and washed his feet. hence the name “Senzoku(wash one’s feet)”.
The Myofukuji temple grounds are filled with the crisp, clear air of winter.
Apart from the small pine tree by the edge of the pond, there is indeed a real ‘Kesa-gake no matsu’ pine tree preserved in the precincts. The ‘6th generation Kesa-gake no matsu’ pine tree planted next to it had also grown large. However, as the locations where they were difficult to take good photos, I will omit the photos. If you are interested, please go there.
Unfortunately, it was a cloudy day, so the color of the sky and the color of the water in the pond were not very clear. But perhaps this kind of bleak winter scenery is more appropriate.
The waterfowl that have come to spend the winter here also look healthy, and there are also some people who are crazy (or rather, energetic) enough to be out in the cold wind rowing a boat, which is great.
The location of this ‘100 Views’ photo
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