The name Nakagawa, literally meaning “the middle river”, was derived from the fact that in old days, it flowed from north to south into Edo Bay and was situated between two large rivers, the Sumida and the Old Tone. Nakagawaguchi, meaning “the mouth of Naka River”, was located southeast of Edo city and, during the Edo period, was the entrance for boats carrying goods into the city from places further east and south.
As is shown in this print, the Naka River flowing from left to right is intersected by two waterways. The one in the foreground is the Onagi River (see No. 97) and the one in the distance is the Shin River, leading to Gyotoku. However, both “rivers” joining the Naka River were in fact canals constructed for the purpose of transporting salt from Gyotoku to Edo city.
In those days, natural rivers ran through Edo city from north to south, and to facilitate easier transportation of goods, canals, which connected the natural rivers and ran from east to west, were necessary. In this respect, the Onagi River, about 5 km long and 36 m wide, connected the Sumida River with the Naka River, and the Shin River connected the Naka with the Old Tone River. The goods produced in the area along the Japan Sea and in northern Japan were brought by a large boat to Choshi at the mouth of the Tone river and transshipped to a smaller boat. Smaller boats laden with goods travelled up the Tone river to Sekiyado. After entering the Old Tone River, which branched off from the Tone River at this point, the boat went on to Gyotoku. Furthermore, a large quantity of rice, produced on the Kanto Plain northeast of Edo city, was carried by boat down the Old Tone River to Gyotoku. From Gyotoku these boats proceeded to Edo city by way of the Shin and Onagi rivers. Accordingly, both these Rivers became very important routes to transport daily necessities to Edo city.
Due to the importance of this intersection, the Tokugawa shogunate located a guardhouse at the northwest corner of the intersection. The roof of this guardhouse is depicted in the bottom left-hand corner of this print. At the house, all the passengers were required present themselves for inspection to officials, while the boatman reported their names. The number of boats depicted in the print illustrates how heavy the traffic was at the intersection in those days. Three rafts of logs on the Naka River can be seen being taken to the timber market in downtown Edo.
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