#013 Shitaya Hirokoji

The 13rd of ‘Utagawa Hiroshige: 100 Famous Edo Views’ is Shitaya Hirokoji. The original painting is here.

This kind of picture is easy to understand. The big store facing Hirokoji is Matsuzakaya, a kimono merchant in Nagoya, isn’t it? Then Let’s take a picture of the current Ueno Hirokoji and Matsuzakaya department store on the right, looking toward Ueno-yama.

The buildings are tall and the photo was taken from the ground, so I apologize I can’t get the same sense of depth as in Hiroshige’s bird’s eye view. I am sure that Hiroshige probably did not actually see the view in the air, but his superior imagination and painting skills allowed him to create this bird’s eye view.

Personally, I used to come to this area of Ueno-Hirokoji and Okachimachi for a drink about 30 years ago, but I had been away from the area for a long while. I have been able to visit there occasionally since a few years ago, and I am getting back to know the area a little bit. I think that the place where I can find the “Hirokoji” is either Suzumoto show hall or Ueno-Hirokoji-tei hall.

Speaking of Hirokoji, ABAB is closing its doors at the end of this year. Although I did not directly use ABAB that much, I remember that when I was young, my female colleagues who lived in Ueno would go shopping there whenever they needed something.

I think it was more Ueno ABAB than Shibuya 109 for them, maybe. Well, I’m sorry I’ve strayed so far from 100 Famous Views of Edo.