. Famous Places and Power spots of Edo 江戸の名所 .
. Persons and People of Edo - Personen .
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Kuramae 蔵前 / 倉前 Kuramae district, 浅草御蔵 Asakusa Kuramae
Taito ward, Asakusa, 蔵前一丁目 - 蔵前四丁目 from the first to the fourth sub-district
"in front of the storehouses"
The old spelling in Edo was kura 倉, (like in Kamakura 鎌倉)
and when many storehouses had to be relocated the new spelling 蔵 was used.
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The Government Rice Granaries
The rice storage houses (kura) in Kuramae are a well-known landmark in central Edo. The Kuramae district, on the west bank of the Sumida river, is a very busy part of the city, and a very important one as far as the government is concerned, because this is the site of the government rice granaries, where much of the grain reserves for the city are kept.
Kuramae is located on the west bank of the Sumida river,
just a few kilometers upriver from the Nihonbashi area. It is also located close to the trunk road that leads from Nihonbashi to the ferry boat crossing at Senju, the junction point for all of the main roads leading north and east from Edo. The Kuramae rice trading and storage operations are an important concern of the bakufu. Government officials, and even the Shogun himself, have to keep a close eye on the operations of the official granaries, since rice is the basis of Japan's economy, and the size of the grain reserves can have an important effect on the entire country.
The Shoguns
have tried to restrict rice speculation many times in the past. However, since the rice merchants play an important role in ensuring that the rice market is efficient, and products are distributed to all parts of the country, it is almost impossible to completely eliminate speculative rice trading. The easiest way for the bakufu to keep rice prices steady is to maintain a large supply in kura (warehouse) districts around the country, buying and selling the rice as necessary in order to keep prices in balance. In this sense, the granaries at Kuramae could be considered as a sort of "Federal Reserve Bank of Edo."
Kuramae
is a very impressive-looking place, especially when seen from the river. The long rows of kura along the river bank -- with their whitewashed walls and high, narrow windows -- are an impressive sight indeed. The basic structure of the kura in Kuramae is not that much different from the granaries that farmers maintain in their rural villages. They have thick walls of packed earth, plastered over a wooden frame and whitewashed to fill in any cracks. The doors and windows are small, and kept closed at all times except when rice is being loaded and unloaded. This keeps the inside fairly cool and dry, to prevent the grain from rotting. However, the buildings in Kuramae are many times larger than those found in local villages, and there are hundreds of them arranged in long rows along a series of narrow canals which lead inland from the river.
The rows of granaries are all concentrated in an area between the river and the main road. Facing the road, at the entrance to the district, are several large buildings where the traders and granary managers conduct rice transactions. All of the shipments into and out of the kura are recorded carefully in account books, and the summary figures telling the volume of rice in storage and the going price per koku are sent to bakufu officials once or twice a week. At harvest time the kashi (wharves), where rice is unloaded, are bustling with activity as boats from all over the country dock and unload their cargoes of rice. Usually, the jito (a low-ranking samurai who supervises production in a certain village or region) will travel to Edo with their rice shipments in order to ensure that the delivery is made safely, to get a receipt for their delivery, and to haggle with the officials at the kura in order to get the best price possible.
The dock workers
carry the heavy bundles of rice off the barges and up the steps into the granary buildings. After rice is harvested and dried, the farmers who produced it bring their tax rice to the home of the jito (the word "jito" literally means "head of the land"). There, the rice is wrapped in large bundles made of straw. Since each bundle is supposed to contain exactly one-fourth of a koku of rice, it is easy for the warehouse managers to quickly tally the amount of each shipment. Each bundle bears the stamp of the region and farm that produced and bundled it, so if the managers find out later that the bundles don't contain the right amount of rice, they can easily tell who is guilty of trying to cheat the Government.
More is here
- source : edomatsu: Welcome to Edo! -
. kura 蔵 / 倉 storehouse, tiled storehouse, warehouse .
- Introduction and Haiku -
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. komedonya 米問屋 rice brokers in Kuramae .
. Kuramae Baka Monogatari 蔵前馬鹿物語 .
source : blogs.yahoo.co.jp/kinos5000...
浅草御蔵跡 Remains of a storehouse in Asakusa
. Shubi no Matsu 首尾の松 "Pine of Success" - Kuramae .
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Wadakura 和田倉 Wadakura
Chiyoda ward
wada is an old word for "sea", derived from watatsumi わたつみ / 海神 "God of the Sea".
In the Edo period, in 日比谷入江 the inlet of Hibiya there was the sea and on the shores were many storehouses for rice.
Chiyoda ward. Marunouchi 東京都千代田区丸の内
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Wakakuramon 和田倉門 Wadakura Mon Gate / Wadakura Gomon 和田倉御門
source and photos : wako226.exblog.jp...
The gate was first built in 1620, called kura no gomon 蔵の御門.
Next to it is the bridge 和田倉橋 Wadakurabashi.
Rice barrels could be transported by boat from the harbour to Wadakura via 道三濠 the moat Dosanbori.
When the Meiji Emperor first came to Tokyo, he passed from 呉服橋門 the Gofukubashi Mon Gate to the Wadakura Mon.
. mon 門 the 36 gates of Edo castle .
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Wadakura Funsui Koen 和田倉噴水公園 Waterfountain Park
source : w-funsuikouen-r.com...
- quote -
Wadakura Fountain Park was reconstructed in 1995,
based on the theme of "Continuity and New Development". This fountain park was refurbished to celebrate the occasion of the royal wedding of the Crown Prince and Princess. The original fountain park was constructed to commemorate the royal wedding of the present Emperor and Empress in 1961. The center fountain has water jet of 8.5m, while the adjacent fountains have water jet of 6.8m respectively.
A modern art water fall has been constructed close to the existing fountains. This water fall is 5.5m high, and is 30m wide.
The "Water Fall" and the "Monument Fountain" are connected to the original fountain by four canals, symbolizing two generations of Royal Weddings. At night time, all these fountains are illuminated, and the moving water combined with the colorful illuminations creates a beautiful and tranquil effect.
The water for this fountain park is taken from the Wadakura-bori moat. It is filtered and continually re-circulated.
- 皇居外苑 Kokyogaien National Gardens
- source : env.go.jp/garden/kokyogaien... -
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. Taitō ku 台東区 Taito Ward .
. Asakusa 浅草 .
. Chiyoda ku 千代田区 Chiyoda ward .
. Famous Places and Powerspots of Edo 江戸の名所 .
. Edo bakufu 江戸幕府 The Edo Government .
. Doing Business in Edo - 商売 - Introduction .
. shokunin 職人 craftsman, craftsmen, artisan, Handwerker .
. senryu, senryū 川柳 Senryu poems in Edo .
. Japanese Architecture - The Japanese Home .
. Interior Design - The Japanese Home .
. Legends and Tales from Japan 伝説 - Introduction .
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