Famous Places of Edo Flowers: Group 1 (Mitsugoro Bando)
The way the white timber was stacked foot by foot
That pile is like a forest of cedars
In the old days, there were many cedars, around the Kanbun era
After burning down, only two or three cedars and the small shrine of this company
Remained in the place where people worshipped
And it is called the Sugimori Inari
"Sugimori Inari" refers to the "Sugimori Shrine," one of the three great forests of Edo, located in what is now 1-chome, Nihonbashi Horidome-cho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, an area then known as Shin-zaimoku-cho.
Shin-zaimoku-cho, Sugimori Shrine
The day before yesterday, my lover said such harsh words
I cannot hear that
Saisaburo, between you and me
Is it a matter of today or yesterday?
"Shirokiya Okoma," who wears yellow hachijo silk, is modeled after a real person named "Okuma."
Okuma was the eldest daughter of the lumber wholesaler "Shirokiya" in Nihonbashi Shin-zaimoku-cho and was the central figure in the "Shirokiya Incident" that occurred in the 11th year of Kyoho (1726). Along with her biological mother, she was sentenced to death by the judgment of Ooka Echizen-no-kami for the crime of plotting to murder her husband (attempted murder and adultery).
It is said that when she was paraded through the town, she wore a yellow hachijo kosode over a white silk undergarment and inner robe, and looked beautiful with crystal prayer beads around her neck.
Later, the Shirokiya Okuma incident was used as a subject for Kabuki and Joruri, and the "Shirokiya Okoma" depicted here is the heroine of the puppet Joruri play "Koi Musume Mukashi Hachijo."
Are the "Machiai-chaya Tamaya," "Rikuan," and "Chinami-an" depicted in the Famous Places of Edo Flowers the places where Okoma and Saisaburo met?
The cat held by Okoma in her yellow hachijo attire has a bell on a red string around its neck and is quite a charming and beautiful cat.
Author's note: ○ indicates characters that could not be deciphered.
I will update this as I decipher new characters or notice typos and misreadings. For more details, please read the "Self-Introduction/Disclaimer" section. 📖