13Special Exhibition

Mar. 29 Fri. 2019 No. 13

Traveling on the Edo Highways:A Journey of Sh0gun and Princesses
Saturday, April 27, 2019– Sunday, June 16, 2019

1F Special Exhibition Room *Exhibits are replaced during the exhibition period.

Museum hours: 9:30 am–5:30 pm (until 7:30 pm on Saturdays)
Last admission 30 minutes before closing.
Closed: May 7(Tues), May 27(Mon), June 3(Mon), June 10(Mon)
Admission: (tax included):Special exhibition ticket General admission: 1,000 yen, College student / Vocational college
student: 800 yen, Junior high school student (from outside Tokyo), High school student, Ages
65 and over: 500 yen, Junior high school student (Tokyo), Primary school student: 500 yen
Special exhibition advance ticket General admission: 800 yen, College student / Vocational
college student: 640 yen, Junior high school student (from outside Tokyo), High schoolstudent, Ages 65 and over: 400 yen, Junior high school student (Tokyo), Primary school
student: 400 yen
Sponsors: Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture, The Tokyo Metropolitan
Edo-Tokyo Museum

Woman’s Palanquin, maki-elacquerware of a peony and arabesquepattern with the Shimazu family crests
on a black lacquer background
Late Edo period

Tōkaidō Road: Narumi
Utagawa Kunitsuna II (1863)
Exhibition period: Tuesday, May 28 –Sunday, June 16

Picture Scroll Depicting Princess Saza-no-miya’s Journey to Edo Aoki Masatada (1804)

Special Exhibition

Folding Screen Depicting the Shōgun’s Pilgrimage to the Tōshōgū Shrine in Nikkō Early Edo period
Exhibition period: Saturday, April 27 – Sunday, May 26
Exhibit of reproductions: Tuesday, May 28 – Sunday, June 16

During the Edo period, the roads developed by the shogunate were full of activity, withvarious people and caravans coming and going. Among them, the processions of the shōgun
and the princesses were long, overwhelming people along the roadside and displaying theauthority of the shogunate.
In this exhibition, we will follow a journey along the “Edo Highways” using historicalinformation about the shōgun’s travels to Kyoto and visits to Nikkō (pilgrimage to theNikkō Tōshōgū Shrine) and, the “downward” journey by princesses to Edo.

Prologue

Nihonbashi bridge, which was established as the starting point of the “Edo Highways,” wasfirst built in 1603. Although it was destroyed many times due to fire or other reasons, thebridge was rebuilt each time. People gathered from all over the country as Nihonbashi andits surroundings were the center of the Edo economy, resulting in the appearance of largebustling crowds.

Section One: Passage of the Samurai — Traveling with Dignity

During the time of peace that was the Edo period, the shōgun did not exercise force inwarfare, but displayed his martial abilities when traveling to Kyoto and making pilgrimages
to the Nikkō Tōshōgū Shrine. The long caravans consisted of the bakkaku (the shōgun’scabinet) and the daimyō (powerful feudal lords) and the hatamoto (retainers) and gokenin(vassals) in attendance, all of whom were the worthy of “heads of samurai families.”
The daimyō traveled back and forth between Edo and their hometowns by forming
caravans when taking their turns to work for the shogunate. Because the country’s various
daimyō passed through posting station towns, it led to economic promotion of these local
areas and the spread of culture.

Section Two: Princesess' Journeys to Edo — Gorgeous Wedding
Processions

During the Tokugawa Shogunate, from the time of the third shōgun Iemitsu and later,
it was customary to welcome the legal wives from the sekke (the five regent houses) andthe Miyake clan. When princesses formed caravans for the departure from Kyoto, they traveled
mainly along the Nakasendō route and went down to Edo. The reason for preferring travel by theNakasendō is that it was little affected by river flooding, thus giving it the advantage of enabling
travelers to arrive in Edo on schedule.
At the time of weddings, Wedding Ornaments serving as wedding gifts to brighten the newlife of the married princess were created. A procession of people carrying a variety of ornaments
and going through the streets traveling as a large group would have surprised onlookers along theroads.

Section Three: The Shōgun’s Procession to Kyoto During The end of Edo period— Depictions of Tokugawa Iemochi’s Journey to Kyoto

In 1863, Iemochi, the 14th shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate, visited Kyoto, the first shōgun in
229 years since the time of the third shōgun Iemitsu to make such a trip. Following the arrival ofCommodore Perry, the trip was aimed at reconciling with the court, which was conflicted overwhether to expel foreigners, and restoring the authority of the bakufu governance. Trips to Kyoto
were also made in 1864 and 1865, a total of three times.
The shōgun’s trip to Kyoto created a big stir, and its representation was captured in nishiki-e(Polychrome Woodblock Print), the “Tōkaidō Famous Scenic Landscape” (trip to Kyoto on theTōkaidō) which depicts the Bunkyū era journey to Kyoto, and the “Suehiro Fifty-Three Stations”
which depicts the Keiō era trip to Kyoto for the purpose of the Chōshū Conquest. These twokinds of nishiki-e are woodblocks that are able to capture the changing times while incorporating
the landscape of the “Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō” drawn by Utagawa Hiroshige.

Epilogue: Along Tokyo’s Roads

A railroad that opened between Shimbashi and Yokohama in 1872 and the introduction of horsedrawn carriages and rickshaws greatly changed the means of transportation and the nature oftravel. However, after the Meiji period, the “Edo Highways” was used as a base of transportation,and today is a road system that is familiar to Japanese people. Please view the history of the “EdoHighways” continuing from the past to the present.
(Curator: Sugiyama Satoshi)

EDO-TOKYO MUSEUM NEWS2018 Introduction ofnew collection items
1. A beautiful woman whom one can meet
— The main draw of the teahouse, Kasamori Osen

Deutzia Flowers: The Young Woman of Kasamori, fromthe Series Beauties of the Floating World Associated withFlowers
Suzuki Harunobu(c. 1768–1769)

Suzuki Harunobu (unknown–1770) is aukiyo-e artist who was active at the beginningof the nishiki-e period. From around 1786, thebeautiful women of the streets of Edo weretaken as the theme of his nishiki-e art, and theworks of Harunobu that stimulated interest in
this genre gained popularity.
“Deutzia Flowers: The Young Woman ofKasamori” is a series that likened the existing
beauty of young women to flowers. It features“Unohana,” features Osen, the poster girl the“Kagiya” teahouse in Kasamori Inari Shrine
in Yanaka. Standing in front of a Shutorii(atraditional Shinto shrine gate colored red)
representing the Kasamori Inari Shrine, ata teahouse with a furnace and chagama (teakettle) that serves tea, is Osen, a slender
beauty wearing a Kosode robe with a crest ofivy and holding a tray. On a garden bench sits
a billet doux received by Osen.
Sharing popularity with Osen is Ofuji of
the Yōjiya “Motoyanagiya” in Sensōji Temple
in Asakusa. In this series, the nishiki-e artwork“Violet” (collection of museum), depicting
two beautiful Meiwa era women, has beengathered for this museum.

2. Wedding Ornaments Connecting theShōguns of Tokugawa and MiyakeVarious ornaments and colored costumes adorned
the weddings of the women. In samurai society, thefurnishings of aristocracy came into use as weddingornaments, and reached a peak in the Edo period.
This artwork has the Aoi imperial chrysanthemum
crest of the Tokugawa family and the Fusengiku crestof the Kan-innomiya family with a peony arabesquedesign applied to a mimidarai vessel. The marriage
alliances of the two families can be considered to be
the marriage of the tenth-generation shōgun Ieharu toIsonomiya Tomoko(Shinkan-in), the marriage of thethird-generation Narimasa of the Tayasu house, one of
the gosankyō (three lords) to his legal wife Hironomiya
Sadako, and the marriage of this family’s fifth-generation
Yoshiyori to Mutsunomiya Akiko.
The mimidarai is a simplified carrying vessel
inherited from tsunodarai (a basin with angular handles
for carrying) of the Heian period, and is so named
because ear-shaped handles are attached to the side.
Also used is a bamboo mat to cover the mimidarai andprevent the splashing of water.

Due to the cooperation of many people, in the fiscal year 2018 we were able to curate many museum
items. Some of which will be introduced here.
＊Commentary on the items is provided by the curators Awaya Tomoko, Sugiyama Satoshi, Ochiai
Noriko and Tanaka Yuji .

3. Daimyō mansion converted to a place for playhouses dueto the Tenpō Reforms
The current Asakusa 6-chome in the Taitō Ward of Tokyo
was once named after the theatre district “Saruwakamachi.”It comes from the fact that kabuki theatres were locatedthere from the end of the Edo period until the early Meiji
period.
Before that, there were playhouses officially approved bythe shogunate called Edo Sanza. in Sakaichō, Fukiyachō andKobikichō.However, the shogunate, which rigidly enforced
laws against Edo citizens based on the Tenpō Reforms(revisions to government measures), forced the playhouses
Drawing of the Tanba Province, Suburban
to Asakusa the outskirts of Edo in 1842. The transfer
Residence of the Sonobe Clan, Koide family
destination chosen at that time was the suburban residence End of the Edo periodof Koide-isenokami a member of the sonobe clan,which hada total floor space 10,078 tsubo (33,257 square meters).
This picture depicts the shape of the suburban residence before being confiscated by theshogunate, with the design of a large strolling garden centered around a tsukiyama (small artificialmountain) and a pond. It is a very rare artwork that portrays the lost Daimyō’s residence and also
conveys the history of the Tenpō Reforms.

4. A Rare Piece by an Edo Metalsmith

Hasuzu Tsuba
Work by Fukawa Kazunori I
End of the Edo period (c. 1861 )A Japanese quince-shaped sword guard, with a lotus flower andleaves engraved on an iron surface, “Kazunori” inscribed on theback, and Fukawa Kazunori’s Kukusin gold stamp attached. Awork with a lotus flower inlaid with gold from part of the stemand using a gold and silver inlaid droplets.
Fukawa Kazunori I (1824–1876) was an Edo periodmetalsmith. He studied as an artist under Katsushika Hokusai,
but after Hokusai’s death he apprenticed himself to the Gotōfamily, who worked on the accouterments of swords for theTokugawa shōgun’s household, and embarked on the path ofmetalworking. This museum has a collection of order books,
rough sketches and tools of Kazunori I and Kazunori III
donated by the Fukawa family.
In the order book from 1861, a description presumed to beabout a recorded for this work is present, which means that thisrare work may correspond to this documentary record.

5. Wanting to convey memories of the earthquake— The true soul of the collector

A Muranashiji Pattern and the Aoi Imperial
Chrysanthemum Crest and Scattered Peony
Arabesques in Gold Lacquer on a Mimidarai
VesselLate Edo period

The Great Kantō Earthquake happened on September 1, 1923, devastating
Tokyo.
This is a collection of about 800 items gathered from various materials on
the Great Kantō Earthquake. It seems that past collectors began collecting
artifacts soon after the earthquake occurred. It includes documents issued
by military and administrative authorities and newspapers reporting thedisaster, but notable among the materials are posters and flyers distributed in
the city. From these materials, you can see measures quickly taken to support
the lives of victims and provide security, and how the citizens combined theirstrength to work together for reconstruction. It is rare that posters which areunlikely to survive due to nature of the poster material are preserved in goodcondition. From this collection, we can understand the passion of the pastcollectors to try to convey this terrible event to future generations.

EDO-TOKYO MUSEUM NEWS

PosterThe Skill of Edokko (thePeople of Edo) is Shownon the Stage of theReconstructed CapitalEnd of the Taishō period