One Hundred Famous Views of Edo No.48Water supply bridge at Suruga Terrace

Between Yushima Terrace and Suruga Terrace flowed the Kanda River, originating from Inokashira Pond. The river depicted here was an artificial one in that it was constructed by the order of Iyeyasu Tokugawa, the first Tokugawa shogun, to meet a growing demand for water by Edo people.
A stream branched off upstream of the river at Sekiguchi and its water was brought here by a wooden pipe that raised its level of water higher than that of the river. The water crossed the river by means of a special type of pipe installed on a bridge and was supplied to Edo castle and the centre of Edo city, including Nihonbashi and Kanda. The bridge for transporting the water, which was separate to the walking bridge, was at a lower point along the river and is not depicted in this print. “Water supply” in Japanese is “suido”, thus the walking bridge close to the one which supported the pipe was called Suido Bridge.
Hiroshige has drawn the picture from Yushima Terrace, which commanded over Suruga Terrace a magnificent view of Mt. Fuji in Suruga Province. He has depicted a warrior’s residence on the latter terrace beyond the river. The warriors came from Suruga Province, which was the previous residential site of Iyeyasu Tokugawa before he came to Edo. For those two reasons, the terrace was named Suruga.
The bridge spanning the river leads to the warriors’ residence and the procession of a feudal lord is seen crossing the bridge.
The streamers in the shape of a carp flying in the sky are symbols of a festival held on the May 5th each year. It is believed that carp can easily swim up rapid vertical streams, and therefore it offered a very good example for people who wished to succeed in life. From the beginning of the 19th century, it became the custom among parents of young boys to put up bamboo poles in their gardens and display carp streamers atop the pole, letting them flutter in the bright sky of May. In addition, old-style red streamers and white cloth banners with the portrait of Shoki, a guardian god of boys, were hoisted. By observing this practice, parents hoped that their male children would make headway in their lives. Hiroshige’s picture shows the festival at its peak.