1842 Keisai Ukiyo-e View of Saruwaka, Edo's Theater District

A c. 1842 ukiyo-e woodblock view of Saruwaka (猿若), the historical theater district of Edo (Tokyo). It presents the area, including the famed Ichimuraza and Nakamuraza, during a tumultuous period when theaters were attacked for perceived immorality and forced into the walled quarter seen here.

A Closer Look

Oriented towards the northwest, with the Sumida River in the foreground, this view looks over Saruwaka, now part of Asakusa, Tokyo. The area was walled off and accessible only through one of three gates (seen here in the foreground at left, towards top-left, and at right near the edge of the view). The famed Ichimuraza (市村座芝居, also known as Fukiyacho) and Nakamuraza (中村座芝居, also known as Sakaicho) are labeled and stand prominently at center. An additional renowned theater, the Kawarazakiza (河原崎座), was relocated to the area at right covered by clouds soon after this view's production. Additional theaters, streets, temples, and nearby sites are also noted, including the Senso-ji (金龍山浅草寺), the Matsuchiyama Shoden (待乳山聖天), and Shinyoshiwara (新吉原). Human figures can be seen milling about Saruwaka while boats of various types move through the waters of the Sumida River. The calligraphy at right is a quote from Hanabusa Itchō (英 一蝶), a painter and poet of the late 17th and early 18th centuries.

The Theaters of Edo

Saruwaka Town was a closed space that could only be accessed through three wooden doors on the south, north, and southeast. In addition to theaters, the neighborhood also had houses for actors and theater workers, restaurants, tea shops, souvenir shops, and prop shops. A couple of years before the production of this view, there was hardly anything in the area. Its designation as a theater quarter and the forced relocation of theaters from other parts of Edo caused the neighborhood to be rapidly populated in the early 1840s.

The creation of a walled-off theater district fits with the Tokugawa policy of sequestering industries and activities considered immoral, as with Yoshiwara (Shinyoshiwara), the infamous red-light district seen in the background here. The Shogunate disapproved of the close association of the theaters with prostitution and hoped to be able to more easily police theaters that were located near each other in a controlled environment. This approach was particularly prominent at the time this map was produced, in tandem with the Tenpō Reforms, which targeted theaters (Rakugo, Kōdan, Kabuki, and Bunraku), closing many of them. Several prominent kabuki actors were punished, and new restrictions were placed on all performers, destroying the livelihoods of most and forcing the remainder to operate underground.

Publication History and Census

This view was drawn by Keisai Eisen (渓斎英泉) and published by a group of publishers listed at bottom-left (Nakanoya Gorōemon 中野屋五郎右エ門, Mikawaya Zenjirō 三河屋善治郎, and Bunkadō Shōzaburō 文花堂庄三郎). It is undated but very likely dates from 1842 (天保十三年). In 1843, the Tokugawa government replaced the Ichimuraza and Nakamuraza theaters with the Moritaza (森田座, also written as 守田座, also known as Kobikicho), so the view must date from before then. However, as the Nakamuraza is displayed here, the view must date from December 1841 or later, when that theater was relocated following a fire that destroyed its previous location. Moreover, as the view does not include the Kawarazakiza, it most likely dates from 1842. The view is not cataloged in the OCLC and is scarce to the market. Several institutions in Japan note it among their holdings, including the National Diet Library, the University of Tokyo, Waseda University, the National Museum of Japanese History, the Tokyo Metropolitan Library, and Ritsumeikan University.