The 15th of ‘Utagawa Hiroshige: 100 Famous Edo Views’ is Suwa-no-dai, Higurashi no Sato. The original painting is here.
Following the previous the 14th view, this is the view from the old Doukanyama hill, aka Higurashi no Sato. It is very close to the current Nishi-Nippori station, and probably less than 2 minutes’ walk from the site of the 14th and 15th views, both in the past and in the present. It would be easier to walk and take pictures if it were closer…
The mountain in the right front of the original picture is Mt.Tsukuba! So, I gave up on trying to recreate the scenery or to take pictures that would resemble the scenery. No matter how you look at it, you can’t see Mt. Tsukuba from Nippori today.
In addition, it was still a bit cold in Tokyo at that time, and not a single cherry blossom was in bloom. I went back to Nippori Park, where I had taken the 14th view, complaining to myself about the weather and looking for a better direction to get a clear view.
I’m sorry, I don’t know what’s going on.
I wanted to take this picture facing at least the direction of Mt. Tsukuba, but unfortunately it is actually facing south in the opposite direction, which I also regret to confess.
In Hiroshige’s painting, the title of the place is Suwa-no-dai, and there is indeed a magnificent Suwa Shrine there. On the day of the event, a large number of local families were enjoying an outdoor party at the shrine’s precincts.
There was also a way to use the borrowed scenery in relation to the original painting, but I was afraid of disturbing the viewer by taking a poor shot, so I declined.
A straight slope with good visibility descends from just outside the torii gate of Suwa Shrine to the southwest.
The name of this slope is Fujimizaka(Place for Mt. Fuji view). I inderstand that Mt. Tsukuba seems to be beyond reach, but Mt. Fuji in the opposite direction is still visible in good conditions, or at least there was a time when it was visible in the near past. I was strangely struck by the fact that here on Doukanyama hill has always been and continues to be a place with a great view.
![広重名所江戸百景 望月義也コレクション [ 望月義也 ]](https://thumbnail.image.rakuten.co.jp/@0_mall/book/cabinet/0032/9784772610032.jpg?_ex=128x128)
