深川
FUKAGAWA
This area has undergone many changes over the past few centuries. After the Meireki Fire of 1657, the Edo lumberyards were moved away from their original location in Nihonbashi to the Fukagawa marshlands located on the other side of the Sumidagawa. During the 17th and 18th centuries the lumberyards and docks of Fukagawa prospered. As the area was developed, canals were dug to both drain the low-lying land and to aid transportation. As a result this area had, and still has, a great many historical bridges. The importance of these bridges has contributed to the wealth of stories about them. Today many of those canals have been either replaced by culverts or filled in. Even so, several still exist. These remnants of the past are still used for the transport of goods and, more recently, boat tours. In the Meiji period the area became a factory district for Japan’s rapidly growing industrialization. During the postwar period the factories were replaced with the office buildings and apartments of today.
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Former Fukagawa red light district 深川岡場所・花街跡
The area south of Tomioka Hachimangū between Eitai Dōri and the Ōyokogawa was once a famous red-light restaurant and brothel district dating back to 1655. The Fukagawa geisha, also called tatsumi geisha, who provided entertainment at parties here were famous for being high spirited, independent, and very stylish with their understated kimono and haori. Today the area is home to many bars and traditional restaurants, often with the owner’s residence and apartments on the same lot. There still are some geisha in Fukagawa practicing their trade of traditional music and dance. The appreciation of traditional musical performance, such as with shamisen, and dance, with fans in kimono, has declined all over Tokyo, so the number of geisha is probably much lower than it was just forty years ago when company accounts would still cover the cost of geisha entertainments for clients.
FUKAGAWA
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Hachimanbashi 八幡橋
Formerly called Danjōbashi and built in 1878 using a design by noted American engineer Squire Whipple, this was the first iron bridge in Japan. Originally located close to Nihonbashi, it was relocated to Fukagawa in 1929 and renamed Hachimanbashi. The canal it once spanned was filled in but the bridge remains, now spanning a pedestrian pathway in a park. In 1977 it was designated an Important Cultural Property, and in 1989 it received the Honor Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Tomioka Hachimangū 富岡八幡宮
This shrine was founded in 1627 at what was then the edge of the bay. The current reinforced concrete buildings are from 1956, replacing those bombed in World War II. Hachiman and eight other kami are enshrined at Tomioka Hachimangū. There is so much on the shrine grounds that I’ll only cover a few highlights here. This shrine is considered the birthplace of modern sumō, as many of the elements of today’s version of that sport started here. At the entrance, just past the torii, is a monument to ōzeki, the second highest rank in sumō. If you go well around to the right of the main building, there you will see massive stones with inscriptions of the names of all the yokozuna, the highest rank in sumō. Near the yokozuna monuments is an Inari Shrine as well as Nanawatari Jinja, which is a shrine to Benten with a pond. The path to this shrine leads over a bridge. If you instead go around the left of the main building you will see several large round stones used in Edo period longshoreman’s weight lifting contests. Keep going down some steps to three small shrines, one of which is a sub-shrine to Ebisu that is on the Shichifukujin circuit for Fukagawa.
There is also a museum on the grounds that has a variety of objects, artworks, and photographs related to the shrine, its connection to sumō, local history, and more.
The ennichi holy days are held on the first, fifteenth, and twenty-eighth of each month. There is also a flea market on the fifteenth and twenty-eighth of each month and an antiques market on the first (Western goods) and second (Asian goods) Sundays of each month.
Main Festival: Fukagawa Matsuri is held on the weekend closest to August 15. A larger grand festival with over fifty mikoshi is held every three years (2020, 2023, 2026, etc.). As it is the hottest time of the year, water is thrown on mikoshi bearers to cool them down.
The main entrance to the complex is on the south side; you can also enter on the west and north sides.
http://www.tomiokahachimangu.or.jp
Eitaiji 永代寺
Founded in 1627, this Shingon sect Buddhist temple originally shared land and administration with Tomioka Hachimangū. In the Edo period, Eitaiji was the main Buddhist temple for Fukagawa. Starting in 1703 the famous statue of Fudō from Narita would be shown here annually to raise funds. In the Meiji period the government enforced a strict separation of Shintō shrines and Buddhist temples, and most of Eitaiji was destroyed in 1898. Any buildings that still existed did not survive the devastations of the 20th century. These days a commemorative stone at its former location and a small temple of the same name with a unique cupola are all that is left. Its role as the main Buddhist temple for this area is now filled by another Shingon temple, Naritasan Fukagawa Fudōdō. The entrance to Eitaiji can be found on the west side.
Naritasan Fukagawa Fudōdō 成田山 深川不動堂
Also referred to as Fukagawa Fudōson, this is a Shingon Buddhist temple enshrining Fudō Myōō. The temple was built in 1881 and destroyed in the Great Kantō Earthquake and again in the firebombings of Tokyo in World War II. The grounds contain the oldest building in Koto Ward: Ryūfukuji, a disused temple from Chiba Prefecture built in 1862, was relocated here in 1951 to serve as the temple. In 2012 a very modern square structure became the new hondō (main hall). This is a large and impressive black cube covered in Sanskrit text from a Fudō Myōō mantra. You can enter the hall after removing your shoes and hat and silencing your cell phone. Note that photographs are prohibited inside the hall. A large portion of the hall with stepped seating for worshipers contains the altar. Every two hours starting at 9:00 a.m. a priest performs the elaborate goma fire ritual. Afterward worshipers may have objects blessed over the smoldering ashes. The ritual takes place five times a day, except on the ennichi holy days when it is performed six times. The ennichi for the temple are on the first, fifteenth and twenty-eighth of each month. On those days there are many stalls in the vicinity of the temple selling a variety of goods, giving the place a festive air.
The old hall has an inner portion where you can take an elevator to the first, second, and fourth floors, where artwork is displayed. One interesting work is a mural painted on the ceiling of the fourth floor by contemporary artist Nakajima Chinami. Photography is also prohibited inside this hall.
The main entrance to the temple grounds is on the south; you can also find entrances from the east and west sides.
Fuyuki Bentendō 冬木弁天堂
This temple to Benten is one of the Shichifukujin shrines on the Fukagawa pilgrimage route. Today it is located on a large street of tall apartments and office buildings. Fuyuki Bentendō was originally built in the 18th century as a private shrine for a wealthy family of lumber merchants. The Fuyuki family left, but their name remained in the names of the shrine and the neighborhood. This Bentendō is raised above the street level with a garden in the front. The building is of subdued colors offset with a bright red railing for the stairs and veranda.
The entrance to the shrine is on the south side.
Shingyōji 心行寺
I am including this temple not for itself but as it is also on the Shichifukujin route. Fukurokuju is enshrined in the small hexagonal building to the left of the main building. There is also a statue of him with his high-domed head next to it.
The temple entrance is on the west side.
Hōjōin 法乗院
This Buddhist temple, which was founded in 1629, has an interesting mix of modern and traditional in its design. Contemporary staircases and a balcony rail combine harmoniously with traditional temple architecture. The first floor has wall paintings of heaven and hell that date from 1784. Hōjōin is famous for a sub-temple containing a large statue of Enma; for this reason the entire temple is sometimes referred to as Fukagawa Enmadō (深川えんま堂). The Enma statue is seated, measures 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) tall, and dates from 1989. When I visited, the Enmadō was dark inside, so I slid open the glass partition in front of the offering boxes to get a better view. Usually temples have one offering box, but this has nineteen, each with a small kanji sign indicating its purpose. When you toss a coin in one, the lights come on and you hear a short lecture from Enma.
The entrance to the temple is on the west side.
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Enjuin 円珠院
A small temple located on a corner lot, which I am including as it is a Shichifukujin temple, this time for Daikoku. This is a sub-temple of the larger Jōshinji on the other side of the street, so head to the humbler building if you are doing the pilgrimage route.
▲ Hachimanbashi, originally called Danjōbashi, was the first iron bridge in Japan.
Kiyosumi Garden / Kiyosumi Teien 清澄庭園
Originally this was the site of the villa of the wealthy merchant Kinokuniya Bunzaemon before his extravagant lifestyle bankrupted him. Then the samurai lord Kuze Shigeyuki obtained the land and laid out the basic garden. In 1878 Iwasaki Yatarō, founder of Mitsubishi Group, bought the land and had the present garden constructed, which measures almost 3.8 hectares. The design is what is called a chisen kaiyūshiki teien, “pond stroll garden,” intended to be enjoyed from numerous angles as one walks around it. There are many interesting features and structures. The Ryōtei is a traditional-style building built out over the pond to entertain General H.H. Kitchener on his 1909 state visit to Japan. It was damaged in the Great Kantō Earthquake and the firebombings of Tokyo in World War II. Near the entrance is the Taishō Kinenkan, which was originally the funeral hall for the Taishō emperor and later relocated here. Destroyed in World War II, the rebuilt hall employs used materials from the funeral hall for Empress Teimei. While much of garden was damaged in the Great Kantō Earthquake, it still sheltered thousands who took refuge here. In 1924 the Iwasaki family donated the garden to the city.
https://www.tokyo-park.or.jp/teien/en/kiyosumi/index.html
Fukagawajuku 深川宿
You can identify this restaurant by their large wooden sign with the name of the restaurant in green kanji. Fukagawajuku’s specialties are local dishes that were originated by local fishermen in the Edo period who needed a quick and nutritious meal. The dishes then became popular with other occupations such as carpenters as this kind of food could be easily carried to work. The restaurant is especially known for their Fukagawa meshi made with asari clams, negi, and miso cooked together then poured over rice; and takikomi gohan, which is rice cooked with asari clams and negi with crushed roasted nori sprinkled on top. They have a variety of other seafood dishes. They also have food packages you can take home and bentō to take out.
There are two locations: the main in front of the Fukagawa Edo Museum, and the branch east of the road to Tomioka Hachimangū.
http://www.fukagawajuku.com
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Fukagawa Edo Museum / Fukagawa Edo Shiryōkan 深川江戸資料館
The permanent exhibit of this museum consists of full-sized replicas of the types of buildings that used to be common in this part of Tokyo in the late Edo period. The replicas are underground, so that when you enter, you are looking down on a reconstructed neighborhood. The variety of buildings ranges from prosperous businesses to the humble backstreet dwellings of the poor. The lights shift from morning to dusk and dark, and there are seasonal sound effects and decorations. You can enter many of the buildings and handle some of the items on display. They have a small theater and often hold special events. The museum publishes a book in English also titled Fukagawa Edo Museum that is a useful guide to the objects you see displayed and life at the time.
https://www.kcf.or.jp/fukagawa/
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Eitaibashi 永代橋
Follow Eitai Dōri, the major road in the south of the area, west to reach the Sumidagawa and this bridge.
The first bridge called Eitaibashi “Bridge of Eternal Ages” was built in 1698 to celebrate the fiftieth birthday of shōgun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi and link the neighborhoods of Fukagawa with Nihonbashi. Originally this area had a busy ferry, so the bridge must have been welcome to the residents on both sides. Bashō even wrote a poem about crossing the bridge. The first two Eitaibashi bridges shared a similar fate. During the highly popular Fukagawa Matsuri of Tomioka Hachimangū, both of the bridges collapsed from the crowds, the first in the 18th century and the second in 1807 with roughly 1,000 dead and injured. Kaifukuji in Meguro has two stone memorial pagoda to the victims of the second incident; that temple had originally been in Fukagawa when the pagodas were dedicated and was later moved to Meguro. There is even a late Edo period rakugo story dealing with the incident in a darkly humorous way. The third bridge was destroyed in the Great Kantō Earthquake. The current, and fourth, bridge was built in 1925 just south of the original site and is the oldest existing bridge on the Sumidagawa. It is modeled on the Ludendorff bridge near Bonn.
Reiganji 霊巌寺
This attractive temple on spacious grounds was established in 1624 at Reiganjima, near the mouth of the Sumidagawa. After the Meireki fire, Reiganji was moved across the river to Fukagawa, helping draw more visitors to what until then had been a somewhat isolated location. On the street south of the complex you will see old walls on the path into temple grounds, as well as small ornaments on top of the guardrail posts along the street. Inside to the left of the gate is a seated statue of Jizō that is 9 feet (3 meters) tall. This is one of the Six Jizō of Edo that were placed here and at five other locations along major roads leading to Edo between 1708 and 1720. The back of the temple compound has a row of six Jizō that date from the Edo period.
The entrance is to the south.
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Kiyosubashi 清洲橋
An eyebar chain suspension bridge built in 1928 as part of reconstruction projects after the Great Kantō Earthquake. The Kiyosubashi was modeled after the Deutz Suspension Bridge in Cologne on the Rhine in Germany. The structure is an attractive blue with older-style streetlights. On March 9, 1945, during the firebombings of Tokyo in World War II, thousands took refuge on the bridge to escape the flames. The name of the bridge (清洲) comes from combining parts of the kanji of the names of either bank, Kiyosumi (清澄) and Nakasu (中洲) to form Kiyosu (清洲) and then adding the kanji for bridge (橋).
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Mannenbashi 萬年橋
Spanning the Onagigawa, the original bridge was built of wood in the 17th century. Today it is an attractive green steel bridge of bowstring design. In the Edo period turtles were sold near the bridge for the devout to release, an act of mercy according to Buddhist teachings. Many ukiyo-e print designers produced works featuring the dramatic arched bridge. Hiroshige’s print from his series of views of Mount Fuji shows a turtle suspended on a string in the foreground. “Ten-thousand-year bridge” is the translation of the kanji used to write Mannenbashi.
Fukagawa Inari Jinja 深川稲荷神社
A small shrine founded in 1630 and located on a street corner. Unlike many Inari shrines, this one has no bright red torii. However the shrine sign on the stone torii is very ornate, with carvings of dragons on the frame. This shrine is also dedicated to Hotei and is part of the local Shichifukujin pilgrimage.
The entrance is on the southeast corner of the block.
Bashō Heritage Garden / Bashōan Shiseki Tenbō Teien 芭蕉庵史跡展望庭園
A small park on a hill with a view of the junction of the Onagigawa and the Sumidagawa. Also in view are two local bridges, the Kiyosubashi and the Mannenbashi. The park contains a bronze statue of Bashō, the Edo period master of haiku poetry, as well as art and plants related to his poetry. This garden is also often referred to as the Matsuo Bashō Memorial Park and the Bashō Heritage Historic Sites Outlook Garden.
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Shin-Ōhashi 新大橋
Located on the Sumidagawa at the northeast corner of the area map. This was the third bridge to be built across the Sumidagawa in the Edo period. The original timber bridge was constructed in 1693. Bashō wrote a poem mentioning the crunch of frost underfoot while crossing this bridge. It was replaced by an iron bridge in 1885, and then that bridge by a third that was completed in 1977. There are bas-reliefs of the earlier bridges along the pedestrian walkways at the bases of the cable towers.
Bashō Inari Jinja 芭蕉稲荷神社
A small Inari shrine at what is believed to be the location of Bashō’s residence in the neighborhood. No one knows for sure where Bashō’s hermitage was; however, a possible location was identified in 1917 when a stone frog believed to have been owned by Bashō was uncovered by a typhoon. The local community then established the shrine in the poet’s honor. The shrine was destroyed in the firebombings of World War II and the current structure dates from 1975. The shrine can easily be spotted from the street by a large red torii at the entrance. As you enter you face the small shrine and a memorial stone.
Bashō Museum / Bashō Kinenkan 芭蕉記念館
Established in 1981 as a museum devoted to Bashō. Usually referred to in English as the Bashō Museum, Bashō Memorial Museum, or as the Bashō Memorial Hall. The square building is easy to identify with its white walls, rounded roof edges, bashō palm, and traditional gate. The museum collection consists of some original manuscripts by Bashō plus other items related to him, such as a replica of his travel garb.
Fukagawa Shinmeigū 深川神明宮
A gray concrete torii on the street followed by double rows of trees and shrine storehouses line the walkway leading to this shrine. Fukagawa Shinmeigū was founded in the late 16th century by Fukagawa Hachiroemon, a local leader and the man who the Fukagawa area is named after. The shrine is on the location of his former residence. The chief kami of the shrine is Amaterasu Ōmikami; also enshrined are Inari and Jurōjin, so this is one of the Shichifukujin shrines on the local circuit. The shrine’s great festival is held every three years in August on a weekend near the seventeenth.
http://www.fukagawa-shinmei.com
Cattlea カトレア
A small neighborhood bakery where, in 1927, the owner combined two non-Japanese foods, bread and curry, to make karēpan. Today this particular inexpensive fast food is popular all over Japan—you can even find cheap versions in convenience stores. Cattlea, with its generous portions of curry, is considered one of the best places for karēpan in Tokyo. After all, they have had nearly 100 years to hone their skill in making it.