Famous Places of Edo: Sumida Extra (Kawarasaki Gonjuro)

Please take a look.
A big hit in Edo, oh how lovely.
Your favorite Masu-mon, a big hit with White Wisteria.

The famous place pictures of Edo's flowers are
a meeting place from afar, Sekiya Village.

Women enjoying a chat. A young woman holding a popular actor print says, "Our favorite Ichikawa Danjuro's 'White Wisteria Oshun' is a big hit!"

'White Wisteria Oshun' is a rewrite of an old play, adding the sumo wrestler Shirafuji Genta to 'Oshun Denbei,' and incorporating the local legend of the Honjo geta-tooth murder. It premiered at the Ichimura-za in Edo in 1810, and its formal title is 'Kachi-zumo Ukiyo no Hanabure'.

'Masu' (three squares) is the crest of the famous Kabuki actor line, Ichikawa Danjuro.

Located in Ushida, near the former Sumida River,
Flowers and birds in spring, boats in summer, moon and wind in autumn, snow on the pines in winter.
It is a scenic spot of elegance in all four seasons,
and as for local specialties, early eggplants and taro are produced, yes indeed.

A woman who appears to be an attendant leans forward to talk about the area near the former Sumida River. This is the Ushida Embankment along the Arakawa River. This area was called 'Sekiya Village'.

Spring is for flower viewing, summer for boat trips, autumn for moon viewing, and winter for snow on the pines.
It is a wonderful scenic spot throughout the four seasons,
and the local specialties are early eggplants and taro.

Sekiya Village had Senju-shuku, the first post station on the Nikko Kaido, and also the Senju Vegetable Market, which was touted as one of the three major markets in Edo at the time.

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My home village is Nerima, so
we produce seeds for forked radishes.
The next famous place picture is from Arima,
from Tomo-kan, and Sanemori.
XXHeita Sanenaga of the pattern,
Oh, excuse me. Please, I just slipped up.

The attendant continues, saying, "My home village is Nerima, so we produce seeds for forked radishes." Speaking of Nerima, it's radishes.

I wonder if 'radish seeds' is a pun on actors and radishes, or seeds and budding actors. I suspect the specific mention of 'forked radishes' is also a pun on something.

Famous dew, Sekiya rowing boat eggplant,
Night poem.

There is a pun between rowing a boat and 'boat eggplant' (a dish where eggplant is shaped like a boat). Perhaps 'eggplant boat-grill' (eggplant sliced lengthwise, spread with miso, and grilled) was a specialty in Sekiya Village.

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Sekiya Village

Between the mountains of Fuji and Tsukuba, which share the name,
A night wife of dew-like affection,
To the village of a thousand grasses that always flickers,

Hiding from people's eyes in Sekiya, through the trees,
On the night we meet, the moon over Sumida in the water is even more...

Gonjuro Kawarazaki's 'Hishi-takara-musubi' (diamond treasure knot) looks like a Christmas decoration and feels quite modern. 🎄

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In the 'Famous Places of Edo Flowers' collection, there are entries for 'Four Seasons Flower Garden, Hyakka-ji Temple' and 'Kashi-za En, Uekiya (Gardener)'.

This is thought to refer to the present-day 'Mukojima Hyakkaen Gardens.' It is a flower garden that opened around the first year of Bunka (1804), and the name 'Hyakkaen' was given by the painter Hoitsu Sakai, the founder of the Edo Rinpa school, while the plaque on the gate was written by the kyoka poet Nanpo Ota. It is said that one could enjoy flowers associated with poetry throughout the year, making it a salon-like place visited by many literary figures and artists.

The accompanying illustration depicts a gourd water container, a tobacco tray, taro in the basket in the back left, and eggplants in the basket in the foreground. Perhaps after their kabuki discussions blossomed, they enjoyed eating taro as a snack.

Cherry blossom viewing in spring, boat trips in summer, moon viewing in autumn, and snow-covered pines in winter
It is a wonderful famous place throughout the four seasons
It is said that the specialties are early eggplants and taro

Author's note: ○ indicates characters that could not be deciphered. However, I am not confident as there are parts where the meaning of the text is unclear. I will update this as needed when I can decipher new characters or notice typos or misreadings. For details, please read the 'Self-introduction/Disclaimer'. 📖