The Festivity and Exposition in Edo

Changing Cities: Politics, Technology and Festivals
June 4, 2008
Naoyuki Kinoshita
The figures, photos and moving images with ‡marks
attached belong to their copyright holders. Reusing orreproducing
pg them is prohibitedp
unless permissionpisobtained directly from such copyright holders.

Today’s Menu
▪ Introduction: Aims of the Lecture
y in a Cityy1)) Look at “the Temporary”
2) What Did the Transition from Edo to Tokyo Bring to “the Temporary”?
▪ In Reference to the First Lecture by Prof. Hiroyuki Suzuki:
1) Control of the City
2) Unification of Lands of Samurai, Temples and Shrines, andTownspeoplep p▪ Perspective from Atago-yama▪ Figurative Representation of “Tsukurimono
Tsukurimono (novelties)”(novelties)▪ Tenka-Matsuri: Kanda Festival and Sanno Festival▪ Exposition

How Did Edo Meisho Zue Describe Edo?
While Yamato-Takeru-no-Mikoto was on an expedition to the land of
the eastern barbarians, he stored his weapons at Mt. Iwakura, Chichibu.
HHencecomes theth countyt name off Musashi.
Mhi

Edo Meisho Zue: Chart 2 in its Introduction, 1832
A view overlooking the inland sea from a south-eastern town in Edo‡By courtesy of jinbun-sha Co., Ltd.

‡ EDO and TOKYO in figures, EDO-TOKYO-MUSEUM 1998• The city is full of Edo residences of the feudal lords
from all over Japan, as well as the houses oftownspeople and businessmen, standing side by side,from one corner to the other, with tens of thousand of
tile roofs lined up. It’s really a great city, and ranked
number one in JapanJapan.
Edo Meisho Zue

Photo by Beato, taken from Atago-yama, c.1863
DaibaZojo-ji temple

Hama-Goten
HamaGoten (present HamaHama-rikyu)
rikyu)
Kami-yashiki of Iyo-Matsuyama-han
Naka-yashiki of Nagaoka-han

TsukijiTkiji HHongan-jiji ttemplelNaka-yashiki of Nagaoka-han

Bakumatsu Nihon Zue, Aime Humbert
The big city caught our eyes. As we stepped into a tea-house on
the south side, an eye-opening view of a great landscape wasbefore us, and its brilliance amazed us. The sun was setting in
the cloudless sky. The air was so clean that we could look over
Daiba clearly to the shining sea in the bay. But the scenery
under the hills extending from the bay spread itself out andnever seemed to end. It might well be described as a long road,a white wall and the gray ocean.
Humbert, Swiss Envoy, who stayed at Cho-o-ji temple in Shibag y
It is assumedin June,, 1863,, describingg the view from Atago-yama.
that Beato was with him at that time. The photo might have beentaken thenBakumatsu Nihon Zue, Aime Humbert

While the ancient cities in Europe feature individual identities
thanks to their landmark buildings from various ages with thecharm added to their aesthetics generation after generation,
Edo, where everything is of the same age and in the same style,is satisfied with the foundation of the Tycoon’sy(Shogunate)(g)reign, i.e., the only administration and the only accomplishedfact, with which Edo started its history and built its own
landmarks. It looks quite like a modern city.

Atago-yamaEdo-jo castle

Nihonbashi area
Simpuku ji temple
Simpuku-ji

Reconstruction of former Nagaoka-hangNaka-yashikiyEmerging shopping area around former Samurai territory
Construction of western style buildings(incl. former Rokumeikan and Imperial Hotel)

Kidaishouran, owned by Museum of East Asian Art, Berlin
A Scene around 1805 (the 2nd year of Bunka) (Kanda Imagawa-bashi)

Kidaishouran
A Scene around 1805 (the 2nd year of Bunka) (Muromachi 1-chome)

Kidaishouran
A Scene around 1805 (the 2nd year of Bunka) (Suruga-cho)Surugatefu (Suruga-cho) by Hiroshige, 1856
(Meisho Edo Hyakkei)

Kobayashi Kiyochika

E hi
EchigoyaanddE
ExchangehB
Bankk Mit
Mitsui-gumiii‡
TOKYO in Meiji-era, the photography of Tokyo 15 districts, TETSUO TAMAI,KADOKAWA GROUP PUBLISHING COCO.,LTD.
LTD P
P.95
9 fifig.6
6

Figures removed due to copyright restrictions

(Chart 57)(Chart 58)‡ Western architectures in the early Meiji-era, Saburou Horikoshi,
NANYODO, P68, fig.57,58

Shichu Han-ei Tanabata Matsuri by Hiroshige, 1857
(Meisho Edo Hyakkei)
Near side may be “Shiho-gura” ofKyo-machi and MinamiTemma-cho?
Tsutsumi (pharmacy)
Yamazaki (liquor(dealer))Tachi-Ise-ya (dealer of paper, teaand exchange)
S k i
Sakai-ya( h(pharmacy))
The fire tower is the one standingon the fire station premises on
the Yayosu-gashi
Yayosu gashi bank.
bank※ Nazotoki “Edo Hyaku,”
Harashida Minoru, Shuei-sha
Shinsho Visual VersionVersion, 2007
2007.

Tohto Saijiki, Saito Gesshin, 1838 (the 9th year of Tempo)

July 6This morning,morning before dawn,dawn many people set a bamboo tree decorated with tanzaku(oblong piece of paper with verse or picture) high over the roof of each house. Allaround the city, people contrive to create a lot of tsukurimono (novelties) to display
along with the bamboo trees. It is one of the recent practices.
Tohto Saiji-ki
Saiji-ki, Saito Gesshin,Gesshin 1838
Tanabata-Matsuri
As July 7 is the annual Tanabata
Tanabata-Maturi
Maturi (Star Festival),Festival) people are busy fromyesterday, tying numerous beads of Chinese lanterns onto the bamboo trees
decorated with shikishi (square piece of paper with verse or picture), as well as
hanging colorful paper nets and colorful paper streamers, or even paper crafts
modeled after inkstones,
inkstones writing brushes,
brushes slices of watermelon,watermelon shoulder drums,drums
drums, abacuses, etc., to be put high over the roof. Of course, it is a custom toremove every one of these bamboos artifacts and throw them into the river in theevening. A forest of bamboo decorations, standing side by side, is a spectacle, as if
they cover the whole skysky, which represents the peace and prosperity of Great Edo.
EdoEhon Edo Fuzoku Orai, Kan-ichiro Kikuchi, Toyo-do, 1905

Notice, 1841
(12th year of Tempo)
Every year, people celebrate Tanabata-matsuri on July 7 and havealways displayed bamboo trees with tanzaku. However, in recentyears, there appear big tsukurimono and shameful novelties set over
the roofs around the town and reportedly they are getting more andmore flagrant year by year. While moderate size decorations,
including bamboos with tanzaku, are acceptable, one should refrainfrom displaying exceptionally big tsukurimono, other than bamboo
with tanzaku, now that exact instructions were given by thegovernment….(( theh rest omitted.)i d)Nanboku (North South district)
Koguchi-nenbang((small unit/yearlyyy shift))
Sewagakari (on-duty unit leader)
June 28, year of the Ox
Bakumatsu Ofuregaki Shusei, Vol.5, ed. by Ishii Ryosuke and Fukudo Hiroshi,
Iwanami-shoten, 1994.

Notice 1842(the 13th yearNotice,ear of Tempo)
In the recent religious
gexpositions,p, while bigg spectacles
pare pput on in theprecincts and amusement quarters, people throng by themselves and often
have quarrels and bickering here and there. As the purport was alreadydefined in the 11th year of Kansei (1799), it is considered a reprehensible
act against the reverence for the gods and Buddha to dedicate tsukurimono
and put on big spectacles. Ever since, people should have rendered
spectacles strictly superfluous for expositions, to say nothing of creating
big showy tsukurimono. Although the purport was again sent forth in May,the 10th year of Bunsei (1827),(1827) recently it is reported that big tsukurimono
are still being created. As the exposition is now nearing, the words to that
effect are again promulgated, so that, should any misguided conduct befound, not only the misguided individuals, but also relevant unit leaders shallbe punished immediately after investigation.
investigation The local leaders should hurry
to again give this information to the townspeople.
Be sure to spread the above edict so that all are properly informaed….(therest omitted.)
Machi-doshiyori (senior(town leader?))
February 28
Public Office
Bakumatsu Ofuregaki Shusei, Vol.5, ed. by Ishii Ryosuke and Fukudo Hiroshi,
Iwanami-shoten 1994.
Iwanami-shoten,1994

K
Kanasugi-bashi,
i b hi Shibaura,ShibHiroshige,
Hi hi 1857(4th year off Ansei)
A i)（Meisho Edo Hyakkei）
For sixty days from July 9, theexposition of Tirthankara’s
Shichimen-no-miya, Minobu-san in
Ko-shu was held at Joshin-ji
Ko-shu,temple in Fukagawa. (Visitors
thronged in front of the gate,
waiting for it to be opened, even
before dawn every morning, to pay
hhomagetto theth temple.
tl TheThcongregation made various lanterns,
lit them and carried them on theirshoulders, like Mando* which usedg in on the occasion ofto be brought
rituals. People wore "uniforms, weredivided into groups and walked up
and down the approach to thetemple one after another, beating
drums and chanting the sutra.
sutra
Buko Nenpyo, Saito Gesshin*MandoM d or mandou:dLLantern
maded withih
wooden frames covered with paper, with along handle attached underside to hold it up.

On October 30, there appeared decorations around thetea-houses
teahouses within the three theatre towns.
towns From today
on, until the opening of Kyogen with an all-star cast in
November, the houses are decorated with variouselegantltsukurimono
k iffromtheh eaves to theh roofs
f andd litliafter dark. The streets are astonishingly lively with lotsof tableau curtains and festive banners ppresented byy
patrons, along with the piles of sake barrels and bottles
and straw bags of rice and charcoal….(the rest omitted.)Toto-Saijiki, Sito Gesshin, 1838

Gij kGijoukunmou-Zushu,
Z h 1803 (the(th 3rd3 d year off Kyowa)
K)
View of Kobiki-cho, View of the Opposite side of Tea-house in Nicho-cho,Scene of the Theatre of All-Star Cast

Theatres Moved from Kobiki-cho to Saruwaka-cho
due to the Tempo Reform‡ By courtesy of jinbun-sha Co., Ltd.

EveningEi S
Scene iin SSaruwaka-cho,k h Hi
Hiroshige,hi1856(September, the 3rd year of Ansei)(Meisho-Edo-Hyakkei)Gijoukunmou Zushu 1803 (the 3rd year of Kyowa)
Gijoukunmou-Zushu,
View of the Opposite Side of Tea-house in Nicho-cho,
Scene of the Theatre of the All-Star CastHimeji-sosha Mitsu-yamaGij kGijoukunmou-Zushu,
Z h 1803 (the(th 3rd3 d year off Kyowa)
K)
View of the Opposite Side of Tea-house in Nicho-cho,
Scene of the Theatre of the All-Star Cast

Kabukiza Theatre and Piles of Gifts‡
The photography
Thh th off Tokyo,
T kMeiji,Taisho
M iji T i h andd ShShowa-era, Keisho
K i h IIsiguro,SHINCHOSHAi
SHINCHOSHA Publishing,P bli hi
P248, fig.Ⅱ 10-26

Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Temple, Kamakura

Sanno Festival Makes Its Way around Koji-machi
Koji machi 1-chome,1 chome
Hiroshige, 1856 (the 3rd year of Ansei)(Meisho Edo Hyakkei)

Kanda Festival on Parade, Yoshikazu

‡Various EDO-city, EDO-TOKYO-MUSEUM 2003

Kanda Myojin Sairei Emaki, owned by Kanda Jinja temple
The Float of Sojobo Ushiwaka Parading around Mikawa-cho 1-chome

Mikumano Jinja Grand Festival, Enshu Yokosuka
April 5, 2008Kanda Myojin Sairei Emaki, 1793 (the 5th year of Kansei)(?)
Owned by Ryugasaki City Museum of History and Folklore

Edo Meisho Zue, 1836 (the 7th year of Tempo)
Kanda Myojin Festival

The Geijutu Shincho, July number, 2007
Devil’s Head Paradingg in Kanda Festival‡kanda-Myojin temple

http://kanda-ch.blog.ocn.ne.jp/live/Ch t off Shinko-sai
ChartShi kiPParade,d KKandad FFestivalti l
May 12, 2007

The Asahi Shimbun, May 13, 2007
Devil Comes Back to Kanda Festival

Figures removed due to copyright restrictions

Restoration Project of Kanda Matsuri Tsuke-Matsuri
Commemorative Photo of Participantsin Oeyama Gaijin (victory parade)
May 12, 2007