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In 1878, just 19 years after Japan opened it first ports to the world, and a mere ten years after the fall of the Tokugawa Shogunate, an adventurous 47-year old woman from the UK set out to explore the interior of Japan. The country was virtually unknown to Westerners, and a woman traveling only with a guide seemed outrageous. Everybody advised her not to, but she went anyway and wrote this unique and vivid journal of what she saw and experienced.
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Tokyo 1890s • Koganei
Sakura (cherry blossom) along the Tamagawa Waterway (玉川上水) in Koganei, Tokyo. The stretch of about 4 kilometers of cherry trees was extremely popular for hanami (flower viewing).
It is very difficult to imagine that only a century ago there was this much natural beauty in a city that now consists almost entirely of concrete and asphalt. On this photo, it is still a wide and open landscape. It’s like, “This is Tokyo? No way!” But actually, scenes like these were quite common in Tokyo during the Meiji Period (1868-1912).
According to the still existing Koganei Cherry Tree Monument (小金井桜樹碑) near Koganei Bridge, the trees were first planted here in 1737. Emperor Meiji visited Koganei in 1883 (Meiji 16), making it one of the more popular sites to do hanami in the capital.
It was a conveniently located destination because of Sakai Station (present-day Musashi Sakai) and Kokubunji Station on the Shinjuku-Tachikawa Line of Kobu Railways.
Most of the cherry trees were cut down in 1954 (Showa 29) to build the Itsukaichi Highway, the open spaces where people could sit also disappeared. Almost no cherry trees remain.
Although it appears to be a small stream, the Tamagawa Waterway was the main source of water for Tokyo until the Murayama (1927, better known as Tama Lake) and Yamaguchi (1934) reservoirs were built.
It appears to be impossible to pin down the exact location where this photo was taken, so the Google map shows just a spot on the Tamagawa Waterway Green Lane (玉川上水緑道), which follows (and mostly covers) the original Tamagawa Waterway.
Publisher: Unknown
Medium: Albumen Print
Image Number 70602-0002
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Duits, K. (2010, August 10). Tokyo 1890s • Koganei, Old Photos of Japan. Retrieved on 2021, Sep 28 from https://www.oldphotosjapan.com/photos/822/koganei
OldPhotosJapan.com — a photo blog about old Japan that reads like a book and works like an archive. All the photographs are from the Kjeld Duits Collection and available for licensing at MeijiShowa.com. Use when you need historical photos, maps or illustrations of Japan for your newspaper article, book, documentary, advertising or other project. For questions, contact us.
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