Hiroshige II's series 'Views of Famous Places in Edo (Edo meishō zue)' (1861-1864)

Introduction

The series dates from the middle of Hiroshige II's career, when he was in his mid-thirties (thirty-five to thirty-seve years old). At this point, he was using the name 'Hiroshige', since his master Hiroshige I had died (in 1858), and Hiroshige II had taken over the gō 'Hiroshige'; the prints in this series are signed 'Hiroshige'.

The series title is in the vertical rectangular cartouche in the top right corner; the title of each individual print is on the right-hand edge of the horizontal rectangular cartouche.

Series Size and Missing Prints

This page currently contains 71 prints. Of these, 53 seem to be listed in Strange. (Due to his use of older transliteration systems, along with a few reading errors - an understandable problem in dealing with Japanese names, where characters can have so many different readings, especially when used in names - positive identification of every print he lists is problematic.) That leaves 18 prints shown here which seem to not be listed in Strange.

Subtracting the 53 prints shown here which are listed in Strange, from the list of 57 given there, 4 from that list seem to be missing. The missing prints, as listed in Strange, in alphabetical order as he gave them, are:

• Asakusa Temple
• Festival of Shimba
• Hachiman Temple, Kuramaye
• Konnō-cherry tree, Shibuya

• Atago-yama
• Hashiba
• Ikegami
• Kanda Myojin
• Kasumiga-seki
• Meguro
• Mokubo-ji
• Ocha-no-mizu
• Ōkawa tan Seishō kō
• Sengaku-ji
• Senso-ji (possibly Strange's "Asakusa" entry?)
• Shinkawa (?)
• Shin-Sakabana
• Takanawa
• Tora-no-mon
• Tsukuda-shima
• Umeyashiki
• Zojo-ji

Also, better images of the following prints:

• Edo-bashi
• Hashiba
• Jūnisō
• Nippori
• Sengaku-ji

Please see the contact page for information on how to pass such information along. Thanks!

Technical details

• Dates: 1861 (Bunkyū 1), month 10 - 1864 (Genji 1), month 2
• Size: vertical ōban
• Signed: Hiroshige ga
• Publisher: Fujiokaya Keijirō (Shōrindō)

The Prints

In the table of the prints (below), due to the existence of alternative characters, or the post-WWII simplification of written Japanese, the kanji now often used in Japan for some of the places illustrated are sometimes different from the characters given in the title cartouche; if so, the other form is given in brackets.

To see a larger, roughly full-screen, image of any print, if there is one available, please click on the thumbnail; these images are sized to produce reasonable detail (if we have an original that big), and are fairly compressed.

If we have a higher-quality image, that image can be viewed by clicking on the "Large Image" link, which gives the size of the image (for the benefit of those on slow links). Sometimes there is more than one, if our best-quality image has issues (e.g. trimmed margins).

Images	Large Image	Date	Title (Kanji)	Title (Rōmaji)	Title (English)	Description
		1861-64	傅通院	Denzu-in	Denzu Temple	Denzu Temple was built by the Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1603, as the final resting place for his mother, Odai. It became something of a family graveyard for the Tokugawa family, and other family members are also buried here. Sometimes the name of this temple is written with the characters 傳通院, but this is not accurate. The temple's own web site uses the other form.
		1861-64	江戸橋	Edo-bashi	Edo Bridge
	333KB	1861-64	永代橋	Eitai-bashi	Eternity Bridge
		1861-64	五百 羅漢寺	Gohyaku rakan-ji	Temple of the 500 Arhats
		1861-64	八景坂 夕景	Hakkei-zaka yūkei	Evening (View) at Eight Views Slope
		1861-64	十二莊 (十二所)	Jūnisō	Jūnisō Waterfall
		1861-64	木母寺	Mokubo-ji	Mokubo Temple
		1861-64	日本橋	Nihon-bashi	Nihon Bridge
		1861-64	日暮里 古名新掘	Nippori ko-mei shin-kutsu (?)	Nippori	The exact meaning of the second part of the title is somewhat obscure, but it appears to relate to a change in a name (shin - 'new'; ko - 'old').
		1861-64	王子 稻荷 (稲荷)	Ōji Inari	Inari Temple at Ōji	The Ōji Inari shrine, one of the oldest in its area (to the north of Tokyo, on high ground overlooking the Ara River), is one of a series dedicated to Inari, the god of rice harvest; the Oji Inari shrine is the head Inari shrine of the eight provinces of the Kantō.
		1861-64	櫻田 (桜田)	Sakura-da	Sakura-da	Sakura-da (literally, 'flowering cherry rice paddy') was the district where many daimyō had their residences. It was next to Edo castle, residence of the then-Shogun; we see the castle's moat in this image.
		1861-64	千駄ヶ谷	Sendagaya	Sendagaya
		1861-64	泉岳寺	Sengaku-ji	Sengaku Temple
		1861-64	不忍 弁天	Shinobazu Benten	Benten Shrine in Shinobazu
		1861-64	墨田川	Sumida-gawa	Sumida River
		1861-64	洲崎	Susaki	Susaki
		1861-64	天王寺	Ten'nō-ji	Emperor Temple
		1861-64	虎の門	Tora-no-mon	Tora Gate
		1861-64	築地 門跡	Tsukiji Monzeki	Tsukiji Monzeki Temple
		1861-64	佃島	Tsukuda-shima	Tsukuda Island
		1861-64	牛 天神	Ushi Tenjin	Ushi Tenjin Shrine	This shrine is formally known as the Kitano Shrine. The name Ushi Tenjin is actually a nickname; at the start of the Kamakura Era, the famous warrior Minamoto no Yoritomo, the founding Shōgun of the Kamakura Shogunate, stopped here on his way to North. He had a dream in which Sugawara no Michizane, known as Tenjin, appeared riding on a bull (ushi), and told him that his dream would come true.
		1861-64	柳島 妙見	Yanagishima Myōken	Myōken Hall at Yanagishima Bridge	The Myōken Hall was in the north-eastern quarter of the Honjo district, close to where the Yanagishima Bridge crossed the Yokojukken-gawa Canal, where the latter met with the Kitajukken-gawa Canal. The Hall was part of the Honsho Temple complex, and was named for the image of the Bodhisattva Myōken housed in it. Many Edo residents subscribed to a sect which venerated the Bodhisattva Myōken.
		1861-64	鎧 の 渡	Yoroi no wata(shi)	Yoroi Ferry	This print is almost a duplicate of the image of these location in his earlier series, ' Thirty-six Views of the Eastern Capital'.
		1861/10	飛鳥山	Asuka-yama	Asuka Hill
		1861/10	神田明神	Kanda Myōjin	Kanda Myōjin Shrine
		1861/10	御茶の水	Ocha-no-mizu	Tea Water Canal
		1861/10	両国橋	Ryōgoku-bashi	Ryōgoku Bridge
		1861/10	髙繩 (高輪)	Takanawa	Takanawa
		1861/10	東叡山	Tōeizan	Tōeizan Temple
		1861/10	増上寺	Zōjō-ji	Zōjō Temple
		1861/12	浅草寺	Sensō-ji	Sensō Temple
		1862?/?	橋場	Hashiba	Hashiba (Ferry)	Ironically, the literal translation of hashiba is 'bridge place', but there was no bridge here at the time of the print, just a ferry; the Shirahige Bridge is at this location now.
	580KB	1862/?	霞ヶ關 (霞ヶ関)	Kasumiga-seki	Kasumiga Barrier-gate	Literally 'Mist barrier/gate', Kasumiga-seki is a district of Tōkyō; most of Japan's cabinet ministry offices are now located there.
		1862/3	堀之内妙法寺	Horinouchi Myōhō-ji	Myōhō Temple at Horinouchi
		1862/3	亀井戸天神	Kameido Tenjin	Kameido Tenjin Shrine
		1862/3	目黒	Meguro	Meguro	Fudo Waterfalls in Fudo Temple (Ryusen-ji)
		1862/3	御行の松	Miyuki no matsu	The Pine Tree of the Imperial Procession
		1862/3	西新井	Nishi Arai	West Arai
		1862/3	山王	Sannō	Sannō Shrine
		1862/3	新 肴 場	Shin-Sakanaba	New Sakanaba	The New Sakanaba was a riverfront area located in the Honzaimoku-chō (本材木町) district; the area held a group of fish wholesalers.
		1862/8I	赤羽根	Akabane	Akabane
		1862/8I	大門通	Daimon-dōri	Daimon Street
		1862/8I	池上	Ikegami	Ikegami
		1862/8I	牛御前	Ushi no Gozen	Ushi no Gozen Shrine
		1862/8I	吉原	Yoshiwara	The Yoshiwara
	791KB	1862/8I	梅屋敷	Umeyashiki	Umeyashiki	The Plum Blossom Teahouse in Kameido.
		1862/9	赤坂氷川	Akasaka Hikawa	Hikawa Shrine at Akasaka
		1862/9	道灌山	Dōkan-yama	Dōkan Hill
		1862/9	衣紋坂	Emon-zaka	Emon Slope
		1862/9	行人坂	Gyōnin-zaka	Slope of the Devotees	The Daien Temple stands halfway down a slope west of Meguro; the slope is named Gyōnin-zaka, or 'Slope of the Devotees', for the followers of the ascetic sect associated with the temple.
		1862/9	羽田弁天	Haneda Benten	Benten Shrine at Haneda
		1862/9	堀切	Horikiri	Horikiri
		1862/9	眞乳山 (真乳山)	Matsuchi-yama	Matsuchi Hill
		1862/9	白髯 明神	Shirahige Myōjin	Shirahige Myōjin Shrine
		1862/9	高田馬場	Takada-no-baba	Takada Riding Grounds
		1862/9	滝乃川	Takino-gawa	Takino-gawa	The name (literally, "Waterfall River") refers not to the river shown here (which is actually the Shakujii River), but to the area South of the river, including the village of the same name. The name is old, and may or may not refer to the waterfalls found along the river here.
		1862/11	海晏寺	Kaian-ji	Kaian Temple
		1862/11	根津	Nezu	Nezu
		1862/11	昌平橋	Shōhei-bashi	Shōhei Bridge
		1863/6	中野 宝仙寺	Nakano Hōsen-ji	Hōsen Temple at Nakano
	790KB	1863/6	百花園	Hyakkaen	Hundred Flower Garden
	496KB	1863/6	大川 端 清正 公	Ōkawa tan Seishō kō	??
		1863?/?	川崎 平源寺	Kawasaki Heiken-ji	Heiken Temple in Kawasaki	This temple is now usually known as Kawasaki Daishi.
		1863/6	蓮花寺 (蓮華寺)	Renge-ji	Lotus Flower Temple	It is not certain which Renge-ji is referred to here (there are temples of this name in Kyōto, Shiga, etc), as no location is given; it is possibly the one in Kamakura.
		1863/6	深川 八幡	Fukagawa Hachiman	Fukagawa Hachiman Shrine
		1863/8	愛宕山	Atago-yama	Mount Atago
		1863/8	駒場野	Komabano	Komabano
		1863/8	浅草寺花邸	Sensō-ji hanayashiki	Flower Garden at Sensō Temple	Sensō-ji (also known as Kinryū-zan Temple) in Asakusa, Tōkyō is Tōkyō's oldest temple, and one of its most significant. This seems to be the entry "Hanayashiki, Asakusa" in Strange's list.
		1863/10?	関屋 の 里	Sekiya no sato	Sekiya Village
	733KB	1864/2	?	Shinkawa?	Shinkawa?	Shinkawa (literally, 'new river') was actually a canal; it functioned as a tributary of Kamejima River, and ran parallel to Nihonbashi River. It was filled in in 1948.
	1042KB	1864/2	染井	Somei	Somei