One Hundred Famous Views of Edo No.116Sugatami Bridge, Omokage Bridge, and Jariba (gravel yard) at Takata

The title of this print, which mentions Sugatami Bridge first and Omokage Bridge second, implies that the span in the foreground is Sugatami and the other, smaller one in the middle distance is Omokage. However, an official document in the Edo period reveals that the order of the two bridges is the other way round.
Accordingly, the bridge spanning the Kanda River in the foreground of this print is Omokage Bridge, meaning “image bridge”. It is located to the north of Takata Horse Practice Ground.
The road beyond the bridge leads to a village where there was a gravel yard called Jariba. A shrine and temple stand facing each other. Before visitors reached the village, they had to cross another small bridge called Sugatami Bridge, depicted on the right of this print.
In olden days, there was a bridge crossing a pond in the vicinity of Takata. The water in the pond was stagnant, so when someone looked down from the bridge, they could see their full figure reflected in the water as if it were a mirror. From this legend, the name of the bridge, which means “full-length mirror”, was derived.
The pond was also noted for the large fireflies found in the area. These insects emitted a bright yellowish light while flying about at night, and visitors were pleased to see the colourful displays. In later years, the pond turned into a brook.
Legend has it that in the old days, a military commander named Dokan Ota (1432-1486) was caught in a sudden shower and went to a peasant’s house in the village located between Takata Horse Practice Ground and Omokage Bridge to borrow a coat. A young girl coming out of the house offered him a branch of a Japanese yellow rose with a few small flowers in bright golden yellow and recited to him a Japanese poem, which implied that there was no coat in the house. He was ashamed of his ignorance about the meaning of the poem and, therefore, in later years worked hard to learn about such poems.