六郷蒸氣車鉄道之圖（3枚続き）

About this print

Line up the three sheets and a railway bridge runs in one line from the left edge far into the right. This is Shosai Ikkei's nishiki-e Rokugo Jokisha Tetsudo no Zu (Steam Railway at Rokugo), published in 1871 (Meiji 4). On the left sheet a bridge with a red frame spans the river, and in the center a train puffing smoke crosses a bridge that stretches over the fields. Along the bottom edge, a ferryboat carrying passengers, rickshaws and all, is about to reach the bank, spread across the center and right sheets. On the right bank are a thatched teahouse and travelers.

This river, which now divides Ota Ward in Tokyo from Kawasaki in Kanagawa Prefecture, had a ferry called the Rokugo Ferry (Rokugo no Watashi) in the Edo period. At first the ferry was run under contract by townspeople of Edo, but from 1709 (Hoei 6) the post town of Kawasaki-shuku took charge of it, and its income did much to support the post town's finances. When Emperor Meiji crossed here in 1868 (Meiji 1), a temporary bridge of 23 boats lined up side by side, called a funabashi (boat bridge), was set up.

Today, at the Kawasaki end of Rokugo Bridge, stand a monument marking the site of the ferry landing and the Meiji Tenno Rokugo Togyo Hi, a monument to Emperor Meiji's crossing at Rokugo. The bridge railings are decorated with the shape of a ferryboat.

Glossary