#002 Kasumigaseki

#002 Kasumigaseki in Utagawa Hiroshige’s Meisho Edo hyakkei (One hundred Famous Views of Edo) is a work of art here.

I understand in my head that the coastline used to be much further forward than it is now, but still, the view of the ocean from Kasumigaseki is not an easy view to accept.

In Hiroshige’s time, this area was lined with samurai residences. This is the position from the intersection above the Ministry of Finance in present-day Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, looking down southeast, and here is a photo I took there.

As you can see, the ocean is not visible. The city, of course, has completely changed, but I was a little surprised to find that the view, or angle of view, or atmosphere of yesteryear, as seen from the top of the hill, has not changed. I guess the scenery may have changed, but the topography has not.

I walked to the site from the Kokkai-gijidou-mae subway station, but it was quite stressful to take pictures because the streets here are wide and there are only a few places where you can cross the street, and in addition, there are security guards at all important places. Maybe I am just not good at looking at maps and not good at walking.

I took this photo for the thumbnail of the horizontal composition as a proof that I had been to Kasumigaseki.