#082 Takanawa Ushimachi (Failure)

The 82nd scene of Utagawa Hiroshige’s “100 Famous Views of Edo” is Takanawa Ushimachi. The original picture is here.

Can I vent? The latter half of the “Summer” section and the “Autumn” section of “100 Views” feature so many incredibly intricate/unusual compositions. As someone who desperately wants to take photos that “capture” these scenes, I’m completely stumped. This photo is a perfect example. Combining a cart, a cat, fruit stems, and a rainbow over the sea… Each element is tricky enough on its own, but what am I supposed to do with this?

The location depicted in this painting is currently the site of massive redevelopment work around JR Takanawa Gateway stn. I thought if I could somehow combine construction vehicles with something in the shot, I might just pull it off, so I headed out.

Sorry, I was being naive. This is the pathetic photo I took at what seemed to be the location.

This time, the ”100 Views” photo is a white flag.
The construction site barriers are so thorough you can’t see a thing, let alone take photos. Even if I somehow managed to snap a shot, I doubt I could have captured any vehicles, cat-like things, or fruit-like things at all. Of course, there’s absolutely no ocean or rainbow here either. I’ll have to try again another time.

The imposing presence of “Takanawa NEWoMan,” the only high-rise mall opened in the redevelopment area, as seen from the main street.

Even that imposing structure is only a small part of the rapidly progressing redevelopment district. It’s a construction project of incredible scale, rarely seen in densely populated Tokyo.

It was the weekend, but on-site, an overwhelming number of supplies, vehicles, and workers were moving around at a furious pace. If you were wandering around with a camera, you could easily get knocked over by the sheer momentum.

Right here lies the site of the “Takanawa Ōkido,” an important historical landmark that served as a crucial checkpoint dividing Edo’s city center from its outskirts along the Tokaido road. But glancing around, even the area surrounding this historic site had been transformed into a construction material storage yard.