One Hundred Famous Views of Edo No.97Onagi River and five pine trees

The biggest river in Edo, the Sumida, flowed through the eastern section of the city from north to south. Further east, another main river, the Naka, flowed almost parallel to the Sumida. Both rivers were extensively used for the transportation of goods by boat. Iyeyasu Tokugawa, the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate, upon moving to Edo realized the importance of securing salt supplies for the increasing population of the city. Therefore, he built a canal, 5 kilometres long and 36 metres wide, going from east to west to connect the place where salt was produced, Gyotoku, to the centre of the city. Naturally, the canal had to cross both the Sumida and Naka rivers. The intersection of the Naka and Onagi rivers was shown in the print called “The Mouth of Naka River”.
In those days, it was much cheaper and safer to transport goods by boat than by foot or horseback. Furthermore, boats could carry much bulkier goods than either of those means.
The canal was named the Onagi River after its constructor, Shirobei Onagi, and in later years not only salt but also other important goods like rice produced in the north of Japan were transported on it.
On the north bank of the canal stood a row of five old pine trees, but four of them withered away and only one planted in the ground of Lord Kuki’s mansion remained. People called it “Gohon-matsu” (five pine trees) without changing its former name. In this print is shown the tree whose branches overhung the canal. Hiroshige depicts a boat heading for the centre of Edo city carrying passengers instead of goods under the tree. The branches are supported by wooden poles to prevent them from drooping further, lest they should impede the smooth passage of boats beneath them.
Between the lower branches of the pine tree is seen a bridge spanning the Yoko Jikken River, another canal which crossed the Onagi River.