Fukagawa is named after its founder, Fukagawa Hachirozaemon. Originally, parts of Fukagawa below the Eitai river (excluding Etchujima) was sea; Hachirozaemon developed these areas with landfills. After losing about 60 percent of the city in the Great Fire of Meireki of 1657, the shogunate ordered for Buddhist temples on the east bank of the Sumida...
Category: Fukagawa as an area – Fukagawa maps then and now
Fukagawa Historical Landmarks
by Picabo Fukagawa is a neighbourhood east of Nihombashi, at the other side of the Sumidagawa river. It started out as a lumber district in the 17th and 18th century and rose to prominence as a shipping centre for rice, salt and fertilizer. Fukagawa has been widely featured in many Ukiyo-e in the Edo period (1603-1868),...
Changes of Fukagawa Districts
Fukagawa is in downtown Tokyo, or Shitamachi. The name comes from a man who was a pioneer at Fukagawa, Fukagawa Yarouuemon, or 深川八郎右衛門. The picture below is a map of Fukagawa in Edo era. Although just viewing this map might be fun, but if you know how to look at this map, it will be...
How Fukagawa Was Primed For Geisha
Fukagawa may have only been a small district in the history of geisha in Tokyo, however there are several historical aspects that make the Fukagawa geisha stand out, such as how the very beginning of female geisha is said to have originated within this districts borders. This major aspect of Geisha history makes it important...