上野三枚橋遠景

About this photo

The photo's title means "a distant view of the Sanmai Bridges at Ueno." The Sanmai Bridges, literally "three bridges," stood side by side where the road to Kan'eiji temple crossed the Shinobu River, which flowed out of Shinobazu Pond. They were also called Mihashi. The photograph appears in Tokyo Keshiki Shashinban (Views of Tokyo), thought to have been published around 1893 (Meiji 26).

In the Edo period, the shogun used the large middle bridge on his way to worship at Kan'eiji, and ordinary people crossed the smaller bridges on either side. The area was a busy street called Shitaya Hirokoji.

Later the Shinobu River was turned into an underground channel, and the bridges disappeared. In 2005, remains of the bridges were found during construction of an underground parking garage at Ueno Hirokoji in Taito Ward, Tokyo, and they have been registered as a cultural property of the ward.

Glossary