亀戸初卯詣

About this print

This nishiki-e (multicolored woodblock print) shows Hatsu-u Mode, the visit to Kameido Tenjin Shrine, in today's Koto Ward, Tokyo, on the first Day of the Hare of the New Year. It is one sheet from Edo Jiman Sanjurokkyo (Thirty-six Delights of Edo), a series (soroimono) by Utagawa Toyokuni III and Utagawa Hiroshige II showing the pleasures of Edo, with Toyokuni drawing the figures and Hiroshige the scenery. The series came out in 1864 (Genji 1), but the record gives no year for this print.

Kameido Tenjin Shrine is said to have begun in 1661, when an image of Sugawara no Michizane was enshrined here, and the next year its buildings, a pond laid out in the shape of the character for "heart" (shinjiike), and arched drum bridges were built after the model of Dazaifu Tenmangu. Mitake Shrine within the grounds is known as the "god of the Hare," and since the Edo period it has given out lucky uzuchi charms and Hare talismans on the Day of the Hare at New Year.

The Hatsu-u Festival still goes on, and worshippers receive uzuchi, hexagonal wooden sticks painted with pine, bamboo and plum. With its heart-character pond and drum bridges, the shrine is also a favorite spot for plum blossoms in early spring and wisteria in spring.

Glossary