Dojima and Sonesaki on both sides of Osaka’s Shijimi River (蜆川) were devastated by the Great Kita Fire of July 31, 1909 (Meiji 42). The river, which played an important part in Osaka culture was filled in with the rubble and forever vanished from Osaka’s townscape.
For more information about this devastating fire, read Osaka 1909 • Great Kita Fire.
The Google map below is centered on Oebashi Bridge, in the middle of the disaster area.
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Old Photos of Japan aims to be your personal museum for Japan's visual heritage and to bring the experiences of everyday life in old Japan to you.
To enhance our understanding of Japanese culture and society I track down, acquire, archive, and research images of everyday life, and give them context.
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Kjeld Duits
Reference for Citations
Duits, Kjeld (). Osaka 1909: Shijimi River after the Fire, OLD PHOTOS of JAPAN. Retrieved on October 17, 2026 (GMT) from https://www.oldphotosjapan.com/photos/686/shijimi-river-after-the-fire
James Culbertson
The only thing that exists now is a stone marker on the cornerstone of a building that reads “shijimibashi”.
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