Japanese Woodblock Print, originally published 10/1858, this Showa era from recarved woodblocks

SIZE IN INCHES: yatsugiri-ban approx. 4 x 5.8 inches

COMMENTS: Number 114 from the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo

BIKUNI BRIDGE PASSED OVER THE MOUTH OF THE KYOBASHI RIVER at the point where it joined with the Outer Moat. The view here is to the south toward Sukiyabashi Gate and the current Sukiyabashi intersection. The origin of the name Bikuni-bashi, Nun's Bridge, is obscure, but there is no doubt that in Hiroshige's day it was associated with bikuni, a type of low-class prostitute originally disguised as nuns. They worked in cheap unlicensed brothels known as bikuniyado, several of which are reported to have been located in this neighborhood.

Two types of eating places set the scene here. To the right is a stall offering roasted yams, still a winter favorite in Tokyo. The lantern advertises maruyaki, or "roasted whole," and jusanri "thirteen ri" -- a pun on kuri yori (umai) ("nine ri plus four ri," but also (tastier) "than chestnuts"). This particular stall stays fixed in place for the evening but will be loaded onto the waiting handcart when business is over. Baskets of yams rest on the ground outside, near a dog and her puppies.

Of particular interest is the establishment on the left, a permanent shop (indicated by the eave above) offering "mountain whale," a euphemism for the meat of wild animals. Although it is likely that the traditional Buddhist prohibition of the eating of animal meat had spread more widely in the early Tokugawa period than before, the taboo was clearly breaking down in Hiroshige's day. An essay on Edo customs of 1842 observed that in the 1770s even the lower classes ate meat only in secret, but by the 1790s respectable people were beginning to partake, and as of the 1830s it had become a matter of outright pride to consume wild animal flesh.

VG with flaws as shown