The Kidai Shōran Scroll: Tokyo Street Life in the Edo Period

by Hiromu Ozawa, Tadashi Kobayashi, Juliet Winters Carpenter (Translator)

The Kidai Shōran is a magnificent painted Japanese scroll, an artistic rendering of one of the most iconic streets of Edo (as Tokyo was then called) at the beginning of the nineteenth century. It covers five blocks of the main shopping thoroughfare leading south from the Imagawa Bridge to the bridge at Nihonbashi. Though it is believed to have been painted by a well-known artist, its provenance is shrouded in mystery. But over its more than 12-meter length, the artist has given us an almost cinematic look at urban life during the Edo period. More than 1,600 people are depicted here, coming from every walk of society, from samurai to student, hairdressers, minstrels, and geisha. Their activities are portrayed in rich and loving detail: here a young pilgrim receives alms, there a blind masseur rushes to his next appointment, on the other side of the street, a construction crew raises the framing that will become a new shop.

In this fascinating book, the authors bring these details to life with expert commentary and knowledgeable analysis of the times when the scroll was created.

Making an appearance in the scroll are:
• 88 Shops
• 32 Children
• 4 Oxen
• 1,439 Men
• 20 Dogs
• 2 Falcons
• 200 Women
• 13 Horses
• 1 Monkey

108 pages, Hardcover

First published January 10, 2006

Reviews

[Christopher Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating book about the scroll painting Kidai Shōran. I felt as if I was in a time machine, transported to the downtown Tokyo (Edo) of 200 years ago. “Kidai Shōran” can be translated as “excellent view of this prosperous age” and the scroll depicts a bustling Nihonbashi Street of 1805, occupied by peddlers, monks, pilgrims and vendors of newspapers, vegetables, sake, pottery, confectionery, toys and sushi, to name but a few. Every one of the 1,671 people depicted, with their expressive faces, clothing and body language has a story of their own to tell, so the pages with enlarged images of the scenes are a real joy to behold. The book has just the right amount of information about the history of the scroll and the Edo period to help bring the scenes painted in the 13-meter-long scroll to life. It is a fun read, not stuffy at all; hats off to the fabulous translation work of Juliet Winters Carpenter.

[Powersamurai · Rating 5 out of 5]

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