Skip Navigation

Ryogoku Ekoin and Moto-Yanagibashi Bridge, No. 5 in One Hundred Famous Views of Edo

Utagawa Hiroshige

Asian Art

Hiroshige has used an oblique vantage point to Mount Fuji to create a sense of excitement in an otherwise placid scene. The giant drum-tower at the left is the focus of the biannual sumo tournament on the grounds of the Buddhist temple of Ekōin. The two white cloths suspended from the tower indicate that the weather this spring day is suitable for a sumo match. Devoted fans will have already assembled in the temple precincts below. All of these fans were men; women attended only occasional practice sessions.

MEDIUM Woodblock print
  • Place Made: Japan
  • DATES 5th month of 1857
    PERIOD Edo Period, Ansei Era
    DIMENSIONS Image: 13 3/8 x 8 3/4 in. (34 x 22.2 cm) Sheet: 14 1/4 x 9 1/4 in. (36.2 x 23.5 cm)  (show scale)
    MARKINGS Publisher's seal in lower left (Shitaya Uo Ei), "Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn N.Y." stamped in lower left
    SIGNATURE Hiroshige-ga
    COLLECTIONS Asian Art
    ACCESSION NUMBER 30.1478.5
    CREDIT LINE Gift of Anna Ferris
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Early spring scene looking southwest toward the Yanagi Bridge built across the Yakken moat at the point where it meets the Sumida River (area known today as Osan-cho). To the left of the bridge is the smaller Yashiki (mansion) of the Matsudaira lord, administrator for the Shogunate of Tamba. In the distance is Fuji, still under snow. Small boats are carrying their cargoes down to the central markets of Edo. At the top of the scaffolding tower in the left foreground is the Sumo Taiko, the large drum used to announce the start of the Sumo wrestling matches, held twice yearly (Spring and Fall) on the grounds of the temple of Ekoin. As the drum beats, the devoted fans will gather in the temple precincts below. (All of these fans, incidentally, were men; women were permitted to attend only occasional practice sessions). "The location of the sumo tourney at Ekoin reflected the origins of Edo sumo as a dedicatory performance at shrines and temples. From 1661, a system of formal permission for such tourneys was begun by the Magistrate of Shrines and Temples, and by Hiroshige's time a regular pattern of four annual tournaments had been established, two in Edo and one each in Kyoto and Osaka. Originally the Edo site varied among different temples, but from the 1820's on, Ekoin held a virtual monopoly thanks no doubt to its location adjacent to the bustling entertainment district near Ryogoku Bridge (just out of sight to the right of this view). Sumo was performed at Ekoin in the open air (except for the ceremonial roof over the wrestlers and a back row of two-level galleries) until 1919, when the huge ferroconcrete Kokugikan was constructed nearby. After World War II a new stadium was built on the west side of the river, but with the opening of the new Kokugikan in 1985, it is today back again on the Ryogoku side, about a four-minute walk north from Ekoin." (H. Smith in Braziller, 1986, no 5)
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION Utagawa Hiroshige (Japanese, 1797-1858). Ryogoku Ekoin and Moto-Yanagibashi Bridge, No. 5 in One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, 5th month of 1857. Woodblock print, Image: 13 3/8 x 8 3/4 in. (34 x 22.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Anna Ferris, 30.1478.5 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 30.1478.5_PS20.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, 30.1478.5_PS20.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2023
    "CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
    RIGHTS STATEMENT No known copyright restrictions
    This work may be in the public domain in the United States. Works created by United States and non-United States nationals published prior to 1923 are in the public domain, subject to the terms of any applicable treaty or agreement. You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this work. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). The Museum does not warrant that the use of this work will not infringe on the rights of third parties, such as artists or artists' heirs holding the rights to the work. It is your responsibility to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions before copying, transmitting, or making other use of protected items beyond that allowed by "fair use," as such term is understood under the United States Copyright Act. The Brooklyn Museum makes no representations or warranties with respect to the application or terms of any international agreement governing copyright protection in the United States for works created by foreign nationals. For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
    RECORD COMPLETENESS
    Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.