One Hundred Famous Views of Edo No.104Koume bank

Mukojima, literally meaning “opposite side island”, was so-called because it was located on the other side of the Sumida River from Asakusa, one of the most thriving districts in Edo city. On Mukojima was a small village named Koume, a kind of apricot tree.
In ancient times, this area was abundant in apricot trees and people called it Umegahara, meaning “field where apricot blossoms are fragrant”.
During the Edo period, a canal was constructed by the shogunate through the village originally for supplying water to the Honjo and Fukagawa areas south of Koume village. But after the water was suspended for a variety of reasons, the canal was used for transporting goods to various parts of Edo city. The land east of the Sumida was crisscrossed by artificial canals, similar to the one pictured in this print. Although not shown here, a boat travelling along a narrow canal upstream of this one was pulled, by means of a rope, by a man who walked on the bank. The boats which were towed by men were shown in the print “Yoysugi Dori Canal and Towboats” (see No. 33). This was because it was inconvenient to use an oar or a pole to row a boat on such a narrow canal.
Koume apricot trees could be seen in the field alongside the canal, and the bank, called “koume zutsumi”, was named for them. Across the canal were many simple wooden bridges covered with earth. Crossing one of them are two ladies clad in coats, which indicate cool temperature. Two children playing with little dogs under the alder trees are depicted on the right-hand side of the print.
The road along the koume bank was a side street of the Mitokaido Highway, which joined with the main road at Kameari and crossed the Naka River via ferryboat to Niijuku station and thence went to Mito city, where one of the three branch families of the Tokugawa house resided.