The 61st view of Utagawa Hiroshige’s “100 Famous Views of Edo” is Nakagawa river mouth. Here is the original picture.
Looking at an old map, you can see that the Nakagawa river flows from north to south at this location, and the Onagigawa river flows in from the west and the Matsubori river flows in from the east, all converging at this point. It is believed that Hiroshige painted this scene from above the mouth of the Matsubori River, looking down on the confluence.
Today, the Matsubori River no longer exists, and this area has been transformed into a metropolitan park. When I tried to get close to the angle of the original painting, the trees in the park obstructed my view of the old Nakagawa and Onagigawa rivers, so I had to compromise and move my position slightly south to take this photo.
There were some young people practicing canoeing a little upstream from the old Nakagawa. If they had gone down the river another 200 meters, it would have added a little accent to the photo above, but oh well.
By the way, I noticed a facility called “Koto Ward Nakagawa Waterway Inspecton Station” near the shooting location, so I stopped by to cool off from the heat.
Apparently, during the Edo period, this was where cargo and people entering and exiting the capital via water transport were inspected at the checkpoint. The checkpoint was originally established in Fukagawa, but as Fukagawa area developed and was incorporated into the Edo city center, it was relocated to this area, which was considered the outskirts of “Greater Edo.”
This was a pleasant surprise with plenty to see. The full-scale diorama was particularly impressive.
Additionally, another floor was like a “Museum of Life in Koto Ward,” and on this day, there was an exhibition titled “Homes of Koto Residents in the 1940s-1950s,” which was also interesting.
The TV screen was showing news footage of the wedding of His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince (now His Majesty the Emperor).
The location for this “100 Views” photography session
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