1873 Hiroshige III Ukiyo-e Triptych View of Yorozuyobashi, Tokyo

A lovely 1873 Ukiyo-e triptych by Hiroshige III depicting the Yorozuyo Bridge (more commonly known as the Mansei Bridge) and environs in Tokyo. The stone bridge, completed the same year, symbolized Japan's modernization and the changes brought about by the Meiji Restoration.

A Closer Look

This view focuses on the Yorozuyobashi, not to be confused with the longer stone bridge of the same name in Niigata. In addition to the bridge itself, which was literally built from the rubble of an Edo-era stone gate, the view reflects changes brought about by foreign influences and reforms following the 1868 Meiji Restoration. Novelties abound, such as rickshaws, horses and carriages, and Western-style clothing, including that of carriage drivers, a 'dandy' at left with a walking stick, and a rickshaw passenger at right wearing a Western-style suit and bowler hat.

Though not quite as earthshattering in terms of modernization as the Azuma Bridge (吾妻橋), a steel-truss bridge completed in 1887, the Yorozuyo Bridge still represented a modern update, widening the earlier wooden bridges of Edo to accommodate more travelers and new types of conveyance. Not long afterward (c. 1881), Yorozuyobashi saw some of the earliest horsecar service in Tokyo, operating trams pulled by horses along steel rails.

The use of furigana (kana alongside kanji to aid in reading and pronunciation) in the title is noteworthy and suggests that Hiroshige was aiming for a wide audience, including those with limited kanji literacy. As the view highlights elements of change in Tokyo brought by Western influence, it could be considered part of the kaika-e subgenre of ukiyo-e.

The Yorozuyo or Mansei Bridge

In 1872, the Edo era Sujigai Gate (筋違門) and wooden bridge along the Kanda River, one of Edo's 36 mitsuke (approaches to the shogun's palace), was demolished. The stone was used to build a new bridge, which opened in 1873. The governor of Tokyo, Okubo Ichiō (大久保一翁, 1818 - 1888), had intended for the new bridge to be named Yorozuyo (萬代橋), but it popularly came to be known as the Mansei Bridge or Manseibashi (萬世橋), the on reading of the bridge's intended name with one character changed out for a synonymous alternative. It was also called the 'Spectacles Bridge' (眼鏡橋) due to the shape of the stone arches. In 1903, a stronger stone bridge (called New Manseibashi and later simply as Manseibashi) was built adjacent to the 1873 bridge, which was demolished three years later. The 1903 Manseibashi bridge was badly damaged in the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake and finally took its current form when repairs were completed in 1930.

Meiji Era Tokyo

With the Meiji Restoration in 1868, the Tokugawa Shogunate was displaced from Edo, and Emperor Meiji moved the imperial capital from Kyoto to Edo (renamed Tokyo, 'eastern capital'). The Meiji era was a period of tremendous change in Japan, particularly in cities, and in Tokyo more than any other. New ideas, technologies, and fashions from abroad were sought out and adopted with incredible rapidity and, in the process, were localized to suit Japanese tastes. Building on the foundations of Tokugawa Edo, Meiji-era Tokyo intermingled traditional architecture with styles reminiscent of Victorian London; however, most of Meiji-era Tokyo was destroyed in the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake.

Kaika-e (開化繪)

Kaika-e is the Edo / Tokyo equivalent of the Yokohama-e (橫濱繪) genre, depicting foreigners and foreign technologies in the wake of Japan's forcible opening to the world in the 1850s. The phrase 'kaika' is an abbreviation of bunmei-kaika (文明開化), meaning 'civilization and enlightenment,' a slogan and guiding philosophy of the early Meiji period. Kaika-e became especially popular in the 1870s and were encouraged by the Meiji government as a way of advertising the modernization of the new regime's capital city. As with Yokohama-e, common themes included Western-style or hybrid architecture, clothing, and new modes of transportation, as well as scenes of Japanese and foreigners fraternizing amicably.

Publication History and Census

This ukiyo-e triptych was prepared by Hiroshige III and published by Yorozuya Magobē in 1873. It is quite scarce; we only note examples at the University of British Columbia and the Adachi City Museum. Hiroshige III would create a similar view two years later (titled 筋違萬代橋租税寮之圖) after the Ministry of Finance constructed a new Tax Office adjacent to the bridge. (The bridge and new tax office were also the subject of a contemporary print by Yoshitoshi, titled 東京萬代橋之圖).