One Hundred Famous Views of Edo No.5Ekoin Temple at Ryogoku and Moto Yanagi bashi

The area on both sides of Ryogoku Bridge, constructed over the Sumida River, was called Ryogoku. In the eastern sector of Ryogoku stood a temple named Ekoin, literally meaning “temple for a memorial service”.
This temple was built by order of the shogun in 1657, to bury and console the spirits of 108,000 people who were burnt or drowned to death in a fire which swept the greater part of Edo city.
In the grounds of the temple, the traditional sumo wrestling match to raise funds for religious purposes, such as building or repairing a temple or shrine, was started in 1791. In those days it was necessary for the promoter of the sumo wrestling to get permission from the shogunate to have the exhibition. Sumo wrestling was held on this ground until 1909.
In the beginning there was no permanent building on the grounds for the sumo wrestling. Each time, an earthen mound 54 centimeters high with a ring of 4.5 meters diameter was laid in the middle of the grounds and a wooden stand for spectators was built around it. Straw curtains were put up around the stand to prevent people from watching the wrestling free of charge. This temporary structure was not roofed, so the wrestling did not take place when it rained. In order to announce the beginning of the wrestling and to draw the spectators to the wrestling ground, a tall wooden frame was built at one of the corners of the ground and atop it, a drum was beaten from the early morning.
The print’s bird’s-eye view shows the wooden frame in the foreground and below it rather heavy traffic on the river. The mouth of the Yagen Moat can be seen on the other side of the river. A bridge constructed over the mouth of the Yagen Moat was named Yanagibashi, literally meaning “willow bridge”. This was because many willow trees were planted on the left bank of the river. On both sides of the bridge stood many restaurants where people could enjoy foods served by geisha girls. This district of restaurants was called Moto (“Old”) Yanagibashi because another district of restaurants located at the mouth of the Kanda River north of this district also started to be called Yanagibashi.
Overlooking Edo city stands the dominant Mt. Fuji, whose peak is still covered with snow.