Sumida River

The Sumida River (隅田川, "Sumida-gawa") is a river which flows through Tokyo, Japan. It branches from the Arakawa River at Iwabuchi and flows into Tokyo Bay. Its tributaries include the Kanda and Shakujii rivers.

What is now known as the "Sumida River" was previously the path of the Arakawa, however towards the end of the Meiji era work was carried out to divert the main flow of the Arakawa to prevent flooding.

It passes through the following wards of Tokyo:
* Kita
* Adachi
* Arakawa
* Sumida
* Taito
* Kōtō
* Chūō

Culture

The "noh" play "Sumidagawa", which the British composer Benjamin Britten saw while visiting Japan in 1956, inspired him to compose "Curlew River" (1964), a dramatic work based on the story.

The kabuki play, "Sumidagawa--Gonichi no Omokage", is perhaps better known by the title "Hokaibo", which is the name of the central character. This stage drama was written by Nakawa Shimesuke, and it was first produced in Osaka in 1784. The play continues to be included in kabuki repertoire in Japan; and it is also performed in the West. It was recreated by Heisei Nakamura-za in the Lincoln Center Festival in New York in the summer of 2007, with Nakamura Kansaburo XVIII leading the cast. [Lincoln Center Festival, "Hokaibo" program notes in "Playbill". July 10-29, 2007.]

Literature

The poet Matsuo Bashō lived by the Sumida River, alongside the famous banana tree (Japanese: bashō) from which he takes his nom de plume. [See, for example, the opening lines of Records of a Weather Exposed Skeleton, published in "The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches", published by Penguin Classics]

The Sumida River appears in a haiku by Issa from 1820:

spring peace--
a mouse licking up
Sumida River

umida bridges

The Sumida runs through Tokyo for 27 kilometers, under 26 bridges spaced at about one bridge per kilometer. Amongst these, the principal ones are:

* The Senju Ohashi or Senju Bridge, dating from 1921, replaced an earlier bridge initially constructed in 1594, which was for a long time the only bridge across the river. [http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/images/edo/30.1478.103_PS1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/online/edo/detail.php%3Fview%3Dtoc.103&h=700&w=455&sz=75&hl=en&start=7&tbnid=pA35JJxENNb2uM:&tbnh=140&tbnw=91&prev=/images%3Fq%3DEdo%2Bbridges%26gbv%3D2%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26channel%3Ds%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DG -- link to digitized image of Hiroshige's "Great Senju Bridge" (1875)]

* The Sakura-bashi or Sakura Bridge, dating from 1985. [http://www.flickr.com/photos/asakusa/363540909/ --link to recent, digitized photograph of Sakurabashi]

* The Kototoi-bashi or Kototoi Bridge, dating from 1928, was reconstructed at the location of the bridge which linked two nearby temples -- the Mimeguri-Jinja and the Matsuchiyama-shoden. [http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://farm1.static.flickr.com/184/363540914_acdf2a3324_m.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.asakusa-samurai.com/&h=180&w=240&sz=20&hl=en&start=46&tbnid=K6KQRBnneE7ZTM:&tbnh=83&tbnw=110&prev=/images%3Fq%3DEdo%2Bbridges%26start%3D40%26gbv%3D2%26ndsp%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26channel%3Ds%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN -- link to recent, digitized photograph of Kototoi Bridge]

* The Azuma-bashi or Azuma Bridge, dating from 1931, replaced the bridge which was first built in 1774. This bridge is closest to Asakusa Station and the Kaminari-Mon. [http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027j/throwing_off_asia/image/2000_395_s.jpg&imgrefurl=http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027j/throwing_off_asia/toa_core_01.html&h=211&w=404&sz=28&hl=en&start=59&tbnid=BSAKiINK_j5x3M:&tbnh=65&tbnw=124&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dtokyo%2Bbridges%26start%3D40%26gbv%3D2%26ndsp%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26channel%3Ds%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN -- link to digitized image of Meiji-era postcard featuring Azuma Bridge]

* The Komagata-bashi or the Komagata Bridge, dating from 1927, takes its name from the Matsugata temple dedicated to Bato-Kanon. [http://www.t3.rim.or.jp/~kuri/panorama/pano9610e.html -- link to recent, digitized panorama photo of Komagata Bridge in foreground and Azuma bridge in background]

* The Umaya-bashi or the Umaya Bridge, dating from 1929, replaced a bridge built in 1875.

.

* The Shin Ohashi or the New Bridge, dating from 1976, replaced a bridge built in 1693. This bridge was not far from the Ryōgoku Bridge. [Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). "Annales des empereurs du Japon," p. 415.] [http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.tokyoarchitecture.info/Images/Buildings/Daiba/PedestrianBridge-001.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.tokyoarchitecture.info/Architecture/5/4058/Bridge/Type.php&h=400&w=300&sz=12&hl=en&start=2&tbnid=W7aFX1WtYCDoZM:&tbnh=124&tbnw=93&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dtokyo%2Bbridges%26gbv%3D2%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26channel%3Ds%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DG -- link to recent, digitized photograph of Shin Ohashi Bridge]

* The Kiyosu-bashi or the Kiyosu Bridge, dating from 1938, links Kiyosu with Nihonbashi-Nakasu. [http://s-ohtsuki.sakura.ne.jp/subway/eidan/hanzoumon/newpage16.htm -- link to recent, digitized photograph of Kiyosubashi Bridge]

or Edo Bridge.

* The Eitai-bashi or Eitai Bridge, dating from 1924, replaces a bridge built in 1696. [Titsingh, p. 415.] [http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.japantoday.com/news/jp/dbfiles/feature/80.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.japantoday.com/news/jp/e/tools/print.asp%3Fcontent%3Dfeature%26id%3D962&h=146&w=230&sz=21&hl=en&start=16&tbnid=V1g4m-aJnEUWDM:&tbnh=69&tbnw=108&prev=/images%3Fq%3DKachidoki%2BOhashi%2B%26gbv%3D2%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26channel%3Ds%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DX -- link to digitized, pre-war photo-postcard of Eitai Bridge]

* The Chuo Ohashi or the Chuo Bridge, dating from 1994, is the most recently built of the bridges across the Sumida. [http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.davidsanger.com/images/japan/5-850-1959.bridge.y.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.davidsanger.com/stockimages/5-850-1959.bridge&h=216&w=324&sz=28&hl=en&start=44&tbnid=_HSMBBNULHpMXM:&tbnh=79&tbnw=118&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dtokyo%2Bbridges%26start%3D40%26gbv%3D2%26ndsp%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26channel%3Ds%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN -- link to recent, digitized photograph of Chuo Ohasi Bridge] [http://www.t3.rim.or.jp/~kuri/pano360/asp360_1e.html -- Java-driven 360^o moving photo scan]

* The Tsukuda Ohashi or Tsukuda Bridge, dating from 1953, was the first bridge built after the second world war. [http://www.flickr.com/photos/harunire/705487450/ -- link to recent, digitized photograph of Tuskuda Ohashi Bridge]

* The Kachidoki Ohashi or Kachidoki Bridge was constructed in 1940 for the commemoration of the victory of the Japanese army at Lushun during the Russo-Japanese War. This bridge is the only drawbridge on the Sumida, and has not been raised since 1970. [http://www.tourism.metro.tokyo.jp/english/machidukuri/toshikiban/sub01.html -- link to recent, digitized photograph of Kachidoki Bridge]

References

* Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). [Siyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō (1652)] . "Nipon o daï itsi ran"; ou, "Annales des empereurs du Japon." Paris: Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. [http://books.google.com/books?id=Cg8oAAAAMAAJ&dq=editions:OCLC63259938 ...Click link for digitized, full-text copy of this book (in French)]

External links

* National Archives of Japan [http://jpimg.digital.archives.go.jp/jpg_prg/jgmWeb?%TmpFileDisp%env=jpeg2k_images/photo/tokyo_ryogoku/001_e.env ...Click link for photograph of re-built Ryogoku bridge (1875)]
* National Archives of Japan [http://jpimg.digital.archives.go.jp/jpg_prg/jgmWeb?%TmpFileDisp%env=jpeg2k_images/photo/adumabashi/001_e.env ...Click link for photograph of re-built Azumabashi Bridge (June 1876)]
* New York Public Library Digital Gallery [http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchdetail.cfm?trg=1&strucID=179930&imageID=416431&word=japan&s=1&notword=&d=&c=&f=&lWord=&lField=&sScope=&sLevel=&sLabel=&total=1807&num=1056&imgs=12&pNum=&pos=1067# ...Color woodcut print of "Pleasure boating on the Sumida River", c. 1788-1790]