True Pictures of Famous Places in Tokyo: The Burnt Remains of Ryogokubashi Bridge
by Inoue Yasuji
Description
The burnt remains of Ryogokubashi Bridge — destroyed in one of the fires that periodically swept through Edo's wooden urban fabric — are documented here with the unflinching directness that characterizes Yasuji's journalistic prints. Fires were a constant feature of Edo and early Meiji urban life, and Yasuji depicted several, treating disaster as part of the city's lived experience rather than a subject to be avoided. The scorched piers and charred timbers of the great Ryogoku bridge in the aftermath of fire make for an arresting composition, the destruction contrasting with the ordinary river life that continued around it.
More Prints by Inoue Yasuji
The Emperor Meiji and Empress in a Carriage during their Silver Wedding Anniversary Celebration at Aoyama
True Pictures of Famous Places in Tokyo: Taro Inari Shrine in Asakusa-tanbo
Woodblock print
True Pictures of Famous Places in Tokyo: The Destruction of Hisamatsucho in a Fire that Started in Kanda
Woodblock print
Asakusa Bridge in the Rain (Asakusa-bashi uchû no kei)
More Landscapes Prints
Lake Kugushi in Wakasa Province (Wakasa Kugushiko), from the series Souvenirs of Travel I (Tabi miyage dai isshu)"
Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Autumn Maple Leaves at Takao, from the album Eight Views of Kyoto (Kyôto hakkei)
Woodblock print
The Beach at Kaiganji in Sanuki Province (Sanuki Kaiganji no hama), from the series "Collection of Views of Japan II, Kansai Edition (Nihon fukei shu II Kansai hen)"
1934
Color woodblock print; oban
Tea Kettle, section of a sheet from the series "Mirror of Stone Rubbings of Views of the Provinces" (Kohon meihitsu ishizuri kagami)
n.d.
Woodblock print; ishizuri-e, section of harimaze sheet
Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
True Pictures of Famous Places in Tokyo: The Burnt Remains of Ryogokubashi Bridge was created by Inoue Yasuji (井上安治).
True Pictures of Famous Places in Tokyo: The Burnt Remains of Ryogokubashi Bridge depicts landscapes and bridges, set at Tokyo.