Tsukiji

Tsukiji, the famous district in central Tokyo, has been a subject for artists since the Meiji period, when its foreign settlement and later its wholesale fish market gave the neighborhood a distinctive character unlike anywhere else in the capital. Fukazawa's woodblock print captures some aspect of this storied district, whether the bustling market streets, the waterfront along the Sumida River, or the residential areas that surrounded the commercial core. The name Tsukiji means reclaimed land, reflecting the neighborhood's origins as marshland filled in during the Edo period. By the Showa era when Fukazawa was active, Tsukiji had evolved into one of Tokyo's most dynamic and visually rich neighborhoods, offering a woodblock artist abundant material for urban scene-making.