A leisure boat on the Sumida River

A leisure boat on the Sumida River

This same photograph can be found in the memorial photograph album of Charles Appleton Longfellow, first son of the famous American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow who lived in Japan from 1871 to 1873. Charles may have asked Uchida Kuichi to take this shot, and it could be Charles wearing a kimono and looking out from between the shoji screens. The woman second from the left is Okiku, owner of the restaurant Yumei-ro at Sanyabori, and the other women are Charles' favourite geisha. The roofed boat probably belongs to Yumei-ro.==Date:about 1872, Place:Tokyo, Photo:Uchida Kuichi, (Credit:Nagasaki University Library/Kyodo News Images) [Cabinet Number53‐50‐0]

Winter scenery at Sanyabori

Winter scenery at Sanyabori

Sanya Moat looking upstream from Imadobashi, the bridge furthermost downstream on the moat. Until the mid-Meiji Period, this area was a pleasure quarter with restaurants and geisha houses. The Choki-bune (boats) that ferried customers to the Yoshiwara pleasure quarter used to pass here, and thus going to Sanya became a synonym for going to Yoshiwara. Nine bridges spanned Sanya Moat, but they were all later removed as part of land reclamation projects. The site is now Sanyabori Park. This photograph was taken in 1868 by Uchida Kuichi.==Date:unknown, Place:Tokyo, Photo:unknown, (Credit:Nagasaki University Library/Kyodo News Images) [Cabinet Number51‐34‐0]

Snow scene of sanyabori canal

Snow scene of sanyabori canal

The same picture as that numbered 3-26. The canal came directly from the border between Asakusa and Imaido to Minowa in the west reaching Negishi. Many people took this route by Chokibune on the way to Yoshiwara along the Sumida River. In 1958, when the Yoshiwara red light district was abolished, most of the canal was filled in.==Date:unknown, Place:Tokyo, Photo:unknown, (Credit:Nagasaki University Library/Kyodo News Images) [Cabinet Number14‐35‐0]

Asakusa sanyabori canal

Asakusa sanyabori canal

The same photo as the one numbered 14-35, showing a canal leading to Negishi from Asakusa and Imado. Many passengers took boats along the Sumida River to visit the red-light district of Yoshiwara. The chokibune boats were not roofed and so must have been different from those shown in this photo. The cottages on the left may be boat houses. Most of the canals ware filled in when the Yoshiwara district was abolished in 1958.==Date:unknown, Place:Tokyo, Photo:Kusakabe Kinbei, (Credit:Nagasaki University Library/Kyodo News Images) [Cabinet Number3‐26‐0]