enlarged pictureThis photo was taken at Shirobe landing around 1870. It shows four of the large wagons known as daihachiguruma. The waterway in the background is the Imperial Palace (formerly Edo Castle) moat, around the Sukiyabashi area. Behind the house is a boat, and since this spot was a landing point, cargo had probably been transferred from the boat to the wagons.
enlarged pictureThis print, Edo Nihonbashi, done by Katsushika Hokusai around 1831 as part of his "Thirty-Six Views of Mt. Fuji" series, shows the view from Nihonbashi bridge toward Ikkokubashi bridge. The crowd in the foreground are pedestrians crossing Nihonbashi. Cargo being transported by daihachiguruma can also be seen (lower right). This print symbolizes the central role of walking as a means of transportation in Edo. The artist has depicted the Nihonbashi River, a cargo transport artery, with many boats on it. In the background Edo Castle can be seen, and beyond that, Mt. Fuji. The distant view of Mt. Fuji and Edo Castle was the pride of Edoites.
enlarged pictureThis 1702 map of Edo is titled Kaisen Edo oezu ("Updated Map of Edo"). The map is oriented with west at the top. The vacant space at the center is Edo Castle. This illustration shows clearly how the city’s waterways spread out in a spiral pattern, flowing from the moats surrounding the castle to the Kanda River (center right), into the Sumida River (lower right), and ultimately out to the sea. It also shows the contrast between the labyrinth of winding roads to the west of Edo Castle and the sedate grid formed by the roads to the east of the castle and along the Sumida River.
enlarged pictureTakanawa ushimachi zu ("Picture of Takanawa Ox Town"), an 1836 print by Hasegawa Settan, is part of the series titled Edo meisho zue ("Famous Views of Edo"). Oxen were used for overland transport of heavy cargo in Edo. Ox carts came into use around 1630, and at one point Edo had 30 ox keepers with a total of 600 oxen, but this mode of transport declined as human-pulled daihachiguruma carts came into widespread use. (Photos courtesy of Edo-Tokyo Museum)
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By Koji Chikamatsu
Curator, Edo-Tokyo Museum Means of Transport In Edo, where there were no airplanes, trains, or cars, people mainly got around on foot, and sometimes by boat or by palanquin or horseback. Cargo was transported on the backs of people, oxen, or horses, on large carts pulled by people or oxen, or by boat. Unlike Europe or the United States, Japan in the Edo period (1603-1868) did not have horse-drawn carriages, which could move at some speed. An ox pulling a cart was not driven by a seated driver but led by a hostler who walked along with the animal, so this method of transport was only as fast as a person could walk. For strategic purposes, the Tokugawa shogunate strictly limited the use of wheeled vehicles along the highways that connected major cities; the use of ox-drawn carts in Edo was an exception to the norm. Ships and boats were used mainly to transport cargo; people used them primarily as a supplemental means of transportation for such purposes as river crossing. The main types of ships used to transport goods to Edo were large craft known as higaki kaisen and taru kaisen - "kaisen" means circuit boat - which were designed for open-ocean use. For river transport, there were smaller boats known as takasebune (shallow-draft boats), tenmasen (lighters), and choki (long, fast-sailing boats). Roofed pleasure boats known as yakatabune and yanebune could also be seen in the waters around Edo. Palanquins, or kago, the Edo equivalent of taxicabs, were carried on the shoulders of two to four bearers. The palanquins built to daimyo specifications, known as norimono, were plusher than the ones used by commoners. The economy-class kago was a crude affair of split bamboo pieces woven on a frame of four bamboo poles. The palanquins used in the city were referred to as tsujikago ("crossroads kago") or machikago ("town kago"). RoadsAt a time when walking was the main form of transportation, roads were a key part of the infrastructure. When the Tokugawa government came to power, it wasted no time in improving the two highways connecting Edo with the Kyoto-Osaka area, which had been the cultural and economic center of Japan as well as the seat of government (Kyoto). The terminus for these and three other highways was Nihonbashi, in the center of Edo (and now part of central Tokyo). Starting with these principal highways, Edo's road network developed in a radial pattern with Edo Castle at the center. Next, roads linking these arterials were built. Edo's strategic weak point was the western side of Edo Castle, and the roads on that side were built with many curves and T intersections designed to foil attackers armed with arrows and bullets. The townspeople's residential district in and around Nihonbashi, and the subsequently developed district to the east of the Sumida River, were divided into rectangular blocks by four-way crossroads. Waterways To guard against attacks on Edo Castle, a network of strategic moats, streams, and canals was laid out in a spiral pattern. Waterways for freight transport formed a vertical and horizontal grid. At the points of intersection between the roads and the waterways, bridges were built and short ferry routes called watashi ("crossings") were also developed. Because waterways and roads intersected in so many places, Edo had a huge number of bridges. At the time, Osaka was known as the "water city" because of its many bridges - about 200 in all - but Edo put the "water city" to shame with over 500 bridges. Landing points called kashi ("river banks") were established at various points along the waterways for unloading freight. Warehouses and markets were set up at the landing points, and these spots became hubs for the distribution of goods in Edo. Along wide rivers like the Sumida, the long distances between banks prompted the development of ferry service even at points served by bridges. As of 1907 there were 18 ferry crossing points along the Sumida River. Ferries were even established on manmade waterways such as the Nihonbashi River. One of these, Yoroi no Watashi on the Nihonbashi River, is immortalized in a woodblock print by Utagawa Hiroshige in his series of 100 famous views of Edo. |