Kafu's "Hyowa Geta" is a book that has been said to be a classic of walking around Tokyo, and "Eitai Bridge" is described as follows.
"Contrary to the abandonment of the scenery of Shinagawa, the sight of Okawaguchi, which stands with the sail pillars of the cargo ship and the smoke tubes of the factory, may be able to delight a poet of a sect for a long time in light of a kind of hobby as seen in Western comics from time to time. Mokutaro Kinoshita In the poems of one period of the Kitahara Hakushu families, there was no one that seemed to be inspired by the life from the old settlement of Tsukiji to the Tsukishima Eitai Bridge and its scenery. When you look at various Japanese-style cargo ships and Western-style sailboats that leave the factory of Ishikawajima and anchor with several sailboats, you will find a special poetic feeling. When I cross the Eitai Bridge, I come into contact with the sight of this estuary, which is active, and I remember a small story of his lovely "La Niberneez" depicting the life of a ship sailing back and forth between the Seen River. Today's Eitai Bridge has no one to recall the early days of Tatsumi's old days. Therefore, I don't think it's ugly like the Azuma-bashi Bridge or Ryogoku Bridge instead of the Eitai Bridge. The new iron bridge often coincides with the landscape of the mouth." （13-334）
The first Eitai Bridge was built in 1698 (1698) and was about 150 meters upstream from the current bridge position. At that time, it was a large wooden bridge with a very good view, and it was known as a place of coolness in summer. After that, it was rebuilt several times due to accidents, etc., and in 1897 (1897), an iron bridge was built at its current location. However, since this bridge was also damaged by the Great Kanto Earthquake, it was replaced in 1926 as part of the earthquake reconstruction project. ("Chuo-ku Monoshiri Encyclopedia" page 127)
Since this Kafu "Hyowa Geta" was serialized in the magazine "Mita Literature" for about a year since the beginning of the summer of 1914, the Eitai Bridge depicted here was damaged by the Great East Japan Earthquake, not the current one.
Current Eitai Bridge (photographed on September 23, 2015)
