One Hundred Famous Views of Edo No.62Komagata Temple and Azuma Bridge

South of Sensoji Temple in Asakusa was another small temple called Komagata, literally “shape of a horse”, which was originally built in 942 on the bank of the Sumida River. A Buddhist sculpture with an ornamental hat in the shape of a horse’s head was enshrined there. The sculpture was believed to have the power to protect horses from various evils and to allow travellers a safe and pleasant journey.
In 628, a small sculpture was caught in a fishing net just off the bank where Komagata Temple later stood. It was enshrined and became the principal image of Sensoji Temple. Owing to the sculpture being sacred, the shogunate during the Edo period prohibited fishing near the temple. The area was designated as sacred, in keeping with Buddhist principles.
The licensed quarters known as New Yoshiwara were situated north of Komagata Temple beyond Sensoji Temple. Wealthy and noble-class visitors came to the quarters by boat. One of the famous courtesans had a favourite feudal lord lover whom she wished to see as often as possible. One day she composed a haiku poem expressing her reluctance to part with him just after he had left her by boat: “When I thought of my favourite who has just gone by boat which might now be passing Komagata Temple, I suddenly heard a little cuckoo cry ‘cuckoo’ ”.
Keeping this poem in mind, Hiroshige has here drawn a cuckoo conspicuously against a raincloud in the sky. In the bottom left-hand corner of the print is Komagata Temple. In front of the temple was a haberdashery that sold red and white face powder and which advertised its products with a red streamer. Hiroshige has shown the streamer hanging from the top of a pole. Close to the haberdashery and on the riverbank was a timber dealer who stored his goods by standing them vertically in his yard.
The bridge on the left of the print spanning the Sumida River is called Azuma Bridge.