Dec 17, 2011

50景 増上寺塔赤羽根 Zojojito Akabane


増上寺の五重塔とその向こうの赤羽橋を描いています。
赤と青が鮮やかですね。




This is the picture of the Five Storied Pagoda of Zojoji and the Akabane Bridge beyond it.
It's a beautiful picture, with the red pagoda and the blue stream.


この五重塔は第二次世界大戦で惜しくも焼失。

The Five Storied Pagoda was  burned down during the WWⅡ.



でも赤羽橋は今もあります。
ずいぶん様子は違いますがね。


But the Akabane Bridge is still there, well, if I may say so.




首都高の下です…


It's under the highway.






美しい川の流れは…


That beautiful blue stream is now...






残念!


sigh...






橋の側に記念の碑が立ってました。


But there was a  monument by the bridge.






さて、増上寺をご案内しましょう。
大きいですよ。

Now let's explore the Zojoji temple.
It is quite big.



これが大門。最初の門です。

This is Daimon, the first gate.




これが三解脱門。
1622年建立で、第二次世界大戦も乗り越えました。


This is Sangedatsumon.  
Built in 1622, it was one of a few survivors of the war.



三解脱門の後ろには大きなヒマラヤスギが立っています。
案内板によれば1879年に18代アメリカ大統領グラント将軍が植えたとか。
大きくなりましたね。

Right behind the Sangedatsumon, there stand a big Himalayan cedar tree and a sign. 
The sign says that the tree was planted by the 18th US president General Grant in 1879.
It has grown so tall!



これが大殿。東京タワーと並んで見えます。

This is Daiden, the main hall, and Tokyo Tower behind it.


かわいいお地蔵さんがたくさん並んでいました。
風車ものどかに回っていました。


I liked these Jizo.
There were so many of them.
The pinwheels were spinning gently.




今でも増上寺は大きいですが、江戸時代には徳川将軍家の菩提寺として広大な敷地を所有していました。

Even today, Zojoji is very big.  
But in Edo era, as the family temple of the Tokugawa Shoguns, it  owned vast land.




当時はこのあたりも増上寺でした。


These were all part of Zojoji at that time...

芝公園
Shiba Park

プリンスホテル東京
The Prince Hotel Tokyo

ザ・プリンスパークタワー東京
The Prince Park Tower Tokyo

江戸の地図を見ると、五重塔は今のザ・プリンスパークタワー東京の近くにあったように見えます。

According to the Edo map, the Five Storied Pagoda was somewhere near The Prince Park Tower today.




芝公園の丸山古墳に上り、タワーを入れて写真を撮ってみます。


So, I climbed up the hill in Shiba Park and took the picture of the tower .





見ている方向は多分正しいはずですが、ずいぶん違って見えますね。


I think I was looking at the right direction.
But it sure looks different, doesn't it?



2 comments:

Tall Gary said...

I have a book of Hiroshige’s One Hundred Views of Edo also and like it much. The introductory essays and commentaries are by the American historian Henry D. Smith II.

My eyes lit up when I saw the tree planted by President Grant. He stayed over at Hamu Rikyu during his visit to Tokyo. A plaque in the park tells us that the building he stayed in is gone now, but look at the tree he planted then! It is a direct living connection to that time and person 133 years ago.

Merry Witch said...

Hello, Tall Gary. Thank you very much for your comment.

The Himalayan cedar tree has grown so tall in 133 years! I was glad to see that it was well taken care of.

At Zojoji temple, I also saw a podocarp tree, planted by George Bush in 1982 when he was a vice president.