東京汐留鉄道舘蒸汽車待合之図（3枚続き）

About this print

This is the whole of the 1873 (Meiji 6) nishiki-e Tokyo Shiodome Tetsudokan Jokisha Machiai no Zu (Waiting for the Steam Train at Shiodome Station, Tokyo), with all three sheets joined. On the left are a waiting room with a large hanging lamp and red passenger cars. In the center are a locomotive sending up smoke and people seeing travelers off, and on the right, a sign with the title and tracks stretching away in a gentle curve. Under a sky painted red, people in Western and Japanese dress fill the platform.

The sign at upper left lists the characters for "upper," "middle" and "lower" with sums of money, and it appears to be a fare table. When the line opened, the fare between Shinbashi and Yokohama was 1 yen 12 sen 5 rin for upper class, 75 sen for middle class and 37 sen 5 rin for lower class. Even the cheapest seat was not something people could buy casually.

Shinbashi Station was renamed Shiodome Station in 1914, when Tokyo Station opened, and it closed in 1986. At the point where surveying for the line began, a Zero Mile Marker was placed in 1936, and it is designated a Railway Memorial.

Glossary