Artist:Utagawa Hiroshige
Medium: Woodblock print
Geograhical Locations:
Dates:8th month of 1857
Dimensions: Sheet: 14 3/16 x 9 1/4 in. (36 x 23.5 cm) Image: 13 3/8 x 8 3/4 in. (34 x 22.2 cm)
Collections:
Exhibitions:
Accession Number: 30.1478.83
Image: 30.1478.83_PS20.jpg,
Catalogue Description: The primary focal point here is the small Benten shrine, known as the Susaki Shrine, which is situated among the pine trees with its bright red torii and lantern. It is located on the narrow piece of land (susaki) extending out from the mouth of the Meguro River, which emptied into Edo Bay. Benten originated in India as the goddess Sarasvati, the personification of the sacred river of the same name. In Chinese Buddhism, Benten (properly Benzaiten) was first worshipped in Japan as the patroness of learning and the arts. In the Tokugawa period, she became more of a goddess of commercial fortune. However, the original connection with water continued to be symbolic in the location of Benten shrines, found in Edo at the mouths of rivers here (and in print 72 of the series), in the middle of ponds (prints 87, 117), and in riverbank grottoes (print 88). Thus came about the function of a Benten shrine as protector of rivers. At the lower left, the brightly lit second storey room is in one of the Shinagawa brothels, as seen in the previous print. An almost identical view appeared in Hiroshige's "Ehon Edo Miyage," volume VII. The red in the horizon forms a pleasing contrast to the blue of the water and the waves near the shore. The bridge at the lower right is Torimi Bridge, which was renamed Hinkai Bridge in the Meiji Period and subsequently replaced by an overhead pedestrian bridge in the late 1960's when this channel was filled. The shrine survives, but was renamed Kagata Shrine for a reclamation project nearby.