Ferry in Edogawa Imai

A small ferry carries passengers across the Edogawa River at Imai, one of the traditional crossing points that remained in use long after bridges replaced most river ferries. The scene belongs to Kasamatsu's documentation of Tokyo's vanishing traditional infrastructure — the flat-bottomed punt, the ferryman with his pole, the reeds along the bank — subjects that were disappearing rapidly as the city modernized. The composition conveys both the specific geography of the Edogawa and a broader elegy for an older way of moving through the landscape.