The story of Kyobashi. It is a continuation from the last time (Click here last time → [Kyobashi Monogatari 1]).
It is the city of Kyobashi seen from Ginza. The Kyobashi River used to flow at the border between these two towns, and Kyobashi was built on it. The main pillar of the bridge built in the Meiji and Taisho eras is left as a historic site, but it is no longer difficult to imagine that era from the current cityscape.
However, the city of Kyobashi seen from Ginza was once known as a picturesque landscape. What kind of city was it? How did the cityscape be created? I would like to introduce it in several times using postcards.
I'm going to start talking with a single photo.
Photo provided: Chuo Ward Kyobashi Library
I see "Kyobashi" that spans the Kyobashi River from the Ginza side. At that time, in 1895, the street of Kyobashi was named "Minami Temmacho", and a huge gate temporarily stood on the south Temmacho side of the bridge. This is a triumphal gate built during the Sino-Japanese War. It seems that triumphal gates in various shapes were built all over the country to welcome the soldiers who went on the expedition.
On the other hand, "Kyobashi". The Soseki is said to be in the early Edo period, but the bridge in this era was replaced from wooden to stone by Kangoro Hashimoto, a famous mason in Higo, Kyushu in 1875. The main pillar of this bridge, which drew a stunning arch, had the traditional design of the Kyobashi giboshi.
Kyobashi later replaced an iron bridge in Meiji 34 (1901). It is said that the main pillars and balustrades were diverted from the previous Ishibashi, and the side of the arch was covered so that the structure inside could not be seen, and the pattern was applied.
The Japanese-style gate on the left is the Kyobashi Arc de Triomphe, which was built around 1905 during the Russo-Japanese War. The one with the Arc de Triomphe is on the Ginza side. A tram runs on the bridge, and a small boat carrying rice bales floats on the Kyobashi River.
This is a postcard. When the postcard was approved in 1900 (Meiji 33), the postcard became popular with the victory mood of the Russo-Japanese War. At this time, there was no radio yet, and postcards played an important role as a means of communicating information to various places. And that information has been delivered to the present at different times in the form of valuable historical materials from the early 20th century.
Streetcars are often reflected in postcards on Ginza Street. After replacing Kyobashi with iron, the tram began passing in Meiji 36 (1903), so postcards began at a time similar to the history of iron Kyobashi and Ginza Street tram.
This is a view of Ginza Street in the Arc de Triomphe from Minami Temmacho. As the flag flutters, flower trains run, and the people are rushing on the bridge. The appeal of postcards is that you can enjoy the atmosphere of the time, which cannot be learned in history textbooks.
I still have the charm of postcards. Occasionally, interesting things are shown. This is a postcard with a view of Minami Temmacho from Ginza. There is a gas lamp on the right end, and a telephone box is on the lower left.
For the first time, I learned about the phone box in an article previously reported by correspondent Hanes. Please take a look at it.
It was in Kyobashi! Japan's first street payphone → Here
By the way, this postcard is called "hand-colored postcard", which is colored by a coloring teacher on each one. I don't know if it was the real color because it's sometimes painted with the person's favorite color.
If you look closely at the distance in the upper right corner of the phone box, you will see the clock tower. This is Kobayashi Clock Store in Minami Temmacho. Kobayashi Clock Store is famous for its large clock tower built in Hachikan-cho (now Ginza 8-chome), and a clock tower was also built at this branch in Minami Temmacho. Kintaro Hattori, the founder of the Hattori Clock Store, saw the prosperity of this Kobayashi Clock Store, and decided to become a watch dealer.
The picture postcard below is probably the scenery of Minami Temmacho in the late Meiji era. On the other side of the bridge is the beer hall in Minami Temmacho, and on the far right is the main pillar of Kyobashi with the word "Kiyahashi" and something like a gas lamps.
At the current site of Kyobashi, there are two main pillars engraved with "Kiyauhashi" and "Kyobashi", but as you can see, the place where it was actually installed at that time was "Kiyauhashi" was on the right side from the Ginza side, and "Kyobashi" was on the right side just before the Minami Temmacho side.
By the way, when I looked into past photos of the two main pillars, one seemed to be the bridge year of 1901, and the other seemed to have some characters carved, but I could not decipher it.
After that, we entered the era of the Taisho era. This photo seems to be around Taisho 2.3 (1913.4). This is a photo of Ginza from Minami Temmacho. The building on the right side is Nissha. The current Yomiuri Shimbun was here.
Nissha had a clock tower at the end of the Meiji era, but it was removed in a few years. The city of Ginza was a place where many Meiji period and newspapers gathered, and it was also a center of information.
On the other hand, on the Minami Temmacho side, in 1914, a building of Toyokuni Bank Kyobashi Branch was completed on the diagonal line of the Nissha Bridge. It is around the building where the current LIXIL is built.
The design of the postcard is probably the scenery seen from the tower of the circular dome. Since this building was built in the Taisho era, the city of Minami Temmacho will blossom at a rapid pace.
The following year, Kyobashi was built in 1915, but there is a memorial gate on the Minami Temmacho side and a memorial tower on the Ginza side. One of the major bridges, including Kyobashi, was built with some big celebration.
This is a postcard of the Emperor Taisho's great lord (the throne and Great Thanksgiving Ceremony) was held in November. What is drawn on the stamp is the octagonal Takamikura, which is used in the throne of the throne at the time of the succession of the throne. It seems that the current Takamiza was reproduced at the time of the Emperor Taisho, and this will be used again this year.
Looking at Minami Temmacho from a different angle, the Toyokuni Bank is shown on the right side of the street, and the construction of a new building has begun opposite it.
This is the building of Daido Life Insurance Tokyo Branch, completed in 1916, the following year. It was called "Daido Life Building" and had a circular dome roof similar to Toyokuni Bank. After this, it will become a building that will be the face of Minami Temmacho, which creates the atmosphere of Taisho Roman. In terms of its current location, it is located on the ground floor of Tokyo Square Garden, above Central FM.
Photo provided: Chuo Ward Kyobashi Library
Is it around 1916? The bridge seen from this Daido Life Building and the cityscape of Ginza.
Minami Temmacho, where tall buildings began to be built. You will be able to get a bird's-eye view of the city of Ginza from a high place, and this kind of photo will appear in the future. In the Taisho era, Minami Temmacho began this way.
Followed.
