#027 Plum Garden in Kamata

Utagawa Hiroshige’s “100 Famous Views of Edo,” the 27th view is Plum Garden in Kamata. The original print is here.

There used to be several plum gardens in what is now the Ota Ward and Kamata area, and they seem to have been minor tourist attractions. I heard that the plum garden depicted in this painting has been preserved as a small park today, so I visited there near Keikyu’s Umeyashiki Station.

Fortunately, it was still a bit early in the season, but there were enough plum blossoms blooming that I could capture an atmosphere somewhat close to the original painting. If I had to be greedy, I would have liked a tea shop too, but I won’t complain.

By some stroke of luck, I’ve had many opportunities to photograph plum blossoms in various places this year, which makes me very happy.

Hiroshige’s painting depicts a palanquin, typical of a tourist spot in Edo era, but nowadays the easiest way to visit this park is probably by train. So, here’s one shot with the adjacent Keikyu elevated tracks in the background.