浅草

Sensoji in Tokyo's Asakusa district. To the left is Niomon (now Hozomon), to the right is a pagoda, in the foreground is Benten Pond and a tea house. The photo is from before 1887. It was taken from right about here. Nagasaki University has a very similar shot by Kusakabe, panned left a bit removing the pagoda and adding a bridge center frame which is not visible here. Another photo is from a bit up the pond and shows the bell tower The landmarks in this photo don't match modern Tokyo. An explanation is found in the description of another early Meiji photo within a few meters of Kusakabe's. The pond was filled in 1887 (another site says June, 1886), and the pagoda was burned down by US firebombing in World War Two. The current pagoda is in a different location. A photo looking up Nakamise Street towards Sensoji in 1902 on the National Diet Library site shows the pagoda off to the right of the main temple. Now it's located about where the clocktower can be seen.

This photo was discussed in the Flicker Commons research tread.

Now:

This photograph is featured in the Indicommons.org post Traveling Photography.

Thank you for this set from which I borrowed the above photo. See other photos as well as Edo-period prints of the temple and the pagoda at Religion-in-Japan (text in German).

such a beautiful view!

Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Around the World Cityscapes, and we'd love to have this added to the group!

Hmm, the caption says "typical houses", but this is a commercial street. Many of the buildings were probably homes over businesses.