Samegahashi district Shinjuku

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. Famous Places and Powerspots of Edo　江戸の名所 .
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Samegahashi 鮫ヶ橋 / 鮫河橋 "Shark bridge" district
新宿区 Shinjuku ward, Wakaba　若葉, Minami-Motomachi 南元町
(Sometimes spelled Samagahashi in English.)

The bridge was rather small, only 3,6 m long, as can be seen in the depiction of the Edo Meisho Zue.
It was a bridge over the Sakuragawa 桜川支流鮫川.

江戸名所図会　Edo Meisho Zue

- Various explanations for the name are known :

Samegamura 鮫が村 "Shark village"
Samegahashi, Kitacho 鮫河橋北町 Northern District of Samegahashi.

The bridge over a river called Samegawa 鮫川 / 鮫河 "Shark river".
In the Edo period the district was on a plateau above the sea, and shark could be seen from above.
Nearby was 豊島の入江 Toshima no Irie inlet.

- - - - - Another hint for the naming:
In the Edo period, a horse with white eyes was called
sameuma, same-uma 𩥭（さめうま）

- - - - - sameuma kanji with horse and fish
A tale knows this:
Once a priest from the temple 牛込行願寺 Gyogan-Ji in Ushigome had brought such a Sameuma as an offering.
But he fell down from the bridge and both were killed. The bridge was then called after the horse,
さめ馬ヶ橋 Samegahashi.

- - - - - Another hint for the naming:
The bridge was located over tani 谷 steep valley, which was only filled with water when it rained a lot
- 雨 ame .. same - 雨（さめ）ヶ橋 - - - 雨ヶ橋 "Rain Bridge".

Maybe
it was a 駮馬 Sameuma horse belonging to 源義家 Minamoto no Yoshiie.
or
Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu had a 駮馬 Sameuma and when it died, it was carried from 千駄ヶ谷村 Setagaya village for a burial. While crossing the bridge the horse fell into the valley.
or
samizu 冷水（さみず) cold water was flowing below the bridge.

- Another district with the name SAME
. Samezu 鮫洲 "Shark sand bar" district . - Shinagawa

In the Edo period, there were various Samegahashi districts
元鮫河橋表町
元鮫河橋仲町 - 旧字仲殿田
元鮫河橋南町 - 旧鮫河橋千日谷町
元鮫河橋北町
元鮫河橋八軒町
元鮫河橋陽光寺門前 - 江戸時代後期には空き地化
鮫河橋新伊賀町 - 後に鮫河橋谷町

In the beginning of the Meiji period, the following names were used

元鮫河橋町 - 明治5年（1872年）元鮫河橋表町南部、元鮫河橋仲町、武家地が合併
元鮫河橋南町 - 明治2年（1869年）元鮫河橋八軒町、明治5年武家地を合併
鮫河橋谷町一丁目 -(1872年）鮫河橋谷町南部、元鮫河橋北町、元鮫河橋陽光門前、武家地、寺地が合併して成立
鮫河橋谷町二丁目 - 明治5年（1872年）鮫河橋谷町北部、寺地が合併して成立

In 1911, the district of Samegahashi was split into districts in Yotsuya ward:
四谷区元町、南町、谷町一丁目、谷町二丁目
- reference : wikipedia

In 1696, the village along the bridge had become quite large and got the name
Samegahashitanichoo 鮫ヶ橋谷町 Samegahashi Tani Cho "Valley of the Shark bridge"

. Edo goyaku　江戸五役（ごやく）　the five official worker groups of Edo castle .
御駕籠之者 okagonomono, o-kago no mono
They had to look after the kago 駕籠 palanquins for the Shogun and his heirs.
Their quarters were relocated to 四谷鮫ヶ橋 / 鮫河橋 Yotsuya Samegahashi.

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赤坂御用地鮫が橋門 Akasaka Samagahashi Gate

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鮫ヶ橋せきとめ稲荷 Samegahashi Sekitome Inari Shrine
9-9 Minamimotomachi, 新宿区 Tokyo

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- quote -
Ke Brigade, Fifth Group, Samegahashi
Actor Jitsukawa Enjaku I as Yomoshichi,
from the series Flowers o Edo and Views of Famous Places (Edo no hana meishô-e)
「江戸の花名勝会　け　五番組」「与茂七　実川延雀」（初代実川延若）
The term “flowers of Edo” (Edo no hana) can refer, among other things, to fires. The title panel for each print in this series shows the lanterns and identifying standard (matoi) for one of the brigades of firefighters (hikeshi) assigned to various districts. On the west side of the Sumida River were 48 brigades named for the symbols of the kana syllabary and grouped into 8 numbered groups (1 to 10, minus the bad-luck numbers 4 and 7). On the east side of the river, brigades were numbered and assigned to directional groups. Outlying districts were covered by special brigades, here designated “extra” (bangai).
Each title gives the name or number of a brigade, its group, and its district, followed by the kabuki scene chosen to match it.
- source : Museum of Fine Arts, Boston -

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Edo - the EDOPEDIA -

7/14/2018

Samegahashi district Shinjuku

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