Komagata Bridge and Steamer Terminal

The Komagata Bridge spans the Sumida River near Asakusa, opened in 1927 as part of the post-earthquake reconstruction of Tokyo. Koizumi pairs the steel arch with the adjacent steamer terminal that served the river's passenger boats, recording the modern infrastructure that defined interwar Tokyo. The print likely relies on careful registration to align the bridge's geometric span with the curving shoreline below, a recurring concern in his urban views where engineering and water meet. Bokashi gradations shift the river's surface from the bridge's shadow toward open daylight. The image belongs to One Hundred Views of Great Tokyo, the series Koizumi designed, carved, and printed alone between 1928 and 1940. Where shin-hanga publishers such as Watanabe deployed dedicated carvers and printers, Koizumi held every role, and his documentary impulse — recording new bridges and waterborne transit as integral to the city's identity — distinguished his project from earlier meisho-e landscape series.