莊嚴極まる皇城二重橋

About this photo

A stone bridge with two arches side by side runs across above the dark water. Beneath the arches all is dark, and behind the bridge, a thick, rounded line of trees stretches from side to side. On the left, part of a whitish building peeks out above a stone wall, and above it all spreads a sky with white clouds.

As for the "Imperial Castle" (kojo) in the title, the preface of the same album records that in the seventh month of 1868, with the restoration of imperial rule, Edo Castle was designated the Imperial Castle, and Edo was renamed Tokyo. The bridge in the photo is the nearer of the two bridges known by the name Nijubashi: the Seimon Ishibashi (Main Gate Stone Bridge).

Look up at the sky in the upper left: tree branches hang down from the top edge, and the fine shadows of their leaves fall across the sky. It is as if you are looking at the bridge and the trees beyond it through these branches in front.

Glossary