Tameike

Tameike was a reservoir in the Akasaka district of Tokyo constructed in the Edo period to supply the city with water, and a recognized topographic feature that appeared in earlier meisho-e series. By the Meiji era, the area around Tameike had developed into a mixed urban neighborhood of government buildings, residences, and the Western-style institutions that clustered in central Tokyo. Kiyochika's print depicts the reservoir and its immediate surroundings, likely exploiting the reflective water surface to display the atmospheric light effects central to his kosen-ga style. A large body of still water — particularly under dawn, dusk, or overcast conditions — provided ideal conditions for his characteristic tonal gradations, with the sky's color gradients doubled and softened in reflection. The Tameike subject thus functions simultaneously as topographic record and technical demonstration.