Chuo-ku Tourism Association correspondent blog

There is a monument to "Telegraph Creation Business Land" in Akashicho (above photo). Telecommunications was first carried out in Japan on December 25, 1869 (January 26, 1870), connecting the nearby Tsukiji Unsho (there was a monument on the site) and the Yokohama Court (the center of the photo was a monument in front of the Yokohama District Public Prosecutor's Office).

Construction began on September 19, 1869 (October 23, 1869), and in just three months, 593 telegraph poles were built in about 32 km between Tokyo and Yokohama. It would have been a forest stand because a telegraph column was built at an interval of about 50m. In addition, looking at the recorded photographs at that time, it is impressive that the number of overhead lines is quite large. There is a laughing story that it was a fuss about whether letters could be seen coming and going through wires.

It must have been the beginning of what I still call the telegraph column. At that time, it seems that it was called "denshin" instead of "telephone". From "heart transmission" or "transmitting trust (= true, truth)", he eventually replaced "telephone" as an abbreviation of "telecommunication". 

There is no description on the monument of Akashicho what the communication machine used at this time was like. 

It is on display at the Communications Museum in Otemachi. Developed in 1837 by the British Whitstton, it is a "Bregue finger-shaped telegrapher" designed by French Breguet. The real thing was designated as a National Important Cultural Property in 2002 (2002), and replicas are currently on display. 

The lower part of the photo is the "Brege finger-shaped telegrapher" used first. The transmitter on the left and the receiver on the right. There are dials on both sides, and each character, such as Iroha, is engraved. When the needle of the transmitter dial is transmitted according to the text you want to send, the needle of the receiver rotates like a clock and points to the letter sent to the dial. At that time, it was an epoch-making communication machine because there was no need to remember the code like a moles signal. 

However, although the operation was simple, the transmission speed was as slow as about 5 or 6 characters per minute, and it was not suitable for long-distance communication. Therefore, it was used for a short period until around 1875 (1875). 

The luck office is the current customs. A communication office was set up beside this. Yokohama is adjacent to the current Yokohama District Public Prosecutor's Office The Kanagawa Prefectural Government Building is located. This is a historic site where the Kanagawa Unjosho was opened 150 years ago in 1859 (1859), following the opening of Yokohama Port, and it became a historic site. Both Tsukiji and Yokohama are close to foreign settlements, and communication seems to have been used to exchange information on cargo entering and leaving ports. In any case, it can be said that the benefit of civilization was a symbol of modernization.

Have you ever heard the word "Shinba"?　Even now, there is a bridge on the Metropolitan Expressway (formerly Momijigawa) under the name of "Shinbabashi" (upper photo), and near here, "Shinbabashi Ward Minkan" (lower photo = Nihonbashikabutocho) exists. This tells us that this was a remnant of a new place from Edo.

Speaking of its current location, Nihonbashi 2-chome is located between Shinbabashi and Chiyodabashi, along Edo Momiji-dori. The western area of the former Kaedegawa is called Motozaimokucho in the old days, and is said to be the origin of Kiba. It is also depicted in the famous "Edo Figure Screen", and since the early Edo period, it has been a major riverbank as a distribution center for Edo Minato.

So what does "new place" mean?

In fact, it reduced the "Shinkanaba" and simply called it "Shinba". Yes, it was a fish market. There were four fish markets in Edo, not only Nihonbashi, but also Shinsaiba, Yokkaichi, and Shiba Zakoba. Yokkaichi is the area called Edobashi Hirokoji on the south side of Nihonbashi and Edobashi today. Shiba miscellaneous fish farm is located near the current northeast side of JR Tamachi Station, and has a historical site explanation board for Minato-ku.

"In response to the development of the Nihonbashi Fish Market, the new fish market was opened at 2-chome and 3-chome, Motokigi-cho (hereinafter, "Shinba"). The roles of the two were Shinba at the beginning of the month and Nihonbashi in the middle and late, taking turns to deliver fish to the Shogunate. The establishment was triggered by the fact that 13 fishing villages in Sagami Miura-gun (now Miura-shi) and Muraki-gun (now Isogo-ku, Yokohama-shi), which filed lawsuits against the Nihonbashi Fish Bank in 1674 (1674), were allowed to buy and sell at a price less than Nihonbashi "(From the 30th Year History of Chuo-ku").

From these fishing villages, it is a 7-8-volt tower push boat with fast boats (generally called "Oshiokuribune"), and about 50 yellowfin tuna (about 2,000 km) It was said that he left the evening the day before and arrived at the fish bank (fish market) in Edo early the next morning.

During the Edo period, Kaedegawa, where the new place was located, was connected from Edo Minato to Hatchobori (Sakuragawa) and Kyobashi River, and bordered the Nihonbashi River at the shipping bridge (both Shogen Bridge and Pirate Bridge). The Shinba Bridge over here is also known as Nakano Bridge and Kaede Bridge, and it seems to be a built during the Kyowa era (1801-04), but is unknown. The old Shinba Bridge was located north of the current bridge (around Shinbabashi Kuminkan), but it became its current location after replacement after the earthquake.

The Kaede Kawanishi side (currently Nihonbashi 2-chome) is a townspeople area, and the east side of the opposite bank (currently Kabuto-cho, near Sakamotocho Park) is a townman area such as Mifune Tegami Yashiki (commonly known as Pirate House) and Sakamotocho, and on the east side It was Hatchobori Yoriki Concentric House. It is said that during the late Tokugawa shogunate period, the powerful people who worked at the Minamicho magistrate's office (now near Yurakucho) crossed Shinba Bridge and passed the Daimyokoji.

At present, there are no monuments or explanation boards at the site of the Shinba site, but a part of history is found at Shinba Bridge. The change in the fish market is planned to move from around Nihonbashi to Tsukiji, and to Toyosu. It can be said that the fish market that supports food has been an important base of the city since the Edo period.

There was Ryukangawa on the border with Kanda. In the past, Kanda Ward and Nihonbashi Ward were present With Chiyoda-ku The border of Chuo-ku is the former Ryukagawa River. It was reclaimed immediately after the war, but the site has an alley-like terrain so you can walk.

The area adjacent to the Hamacho River is "Ryukan Children's Amusement Park"

The bridge over this area was "Tamade Bridge" in the Meiji era, but there was also a "Ghost Bridge" in the Edo era picture, so was it a place that seemed scared? At present, the location of this amusement park is With Chuo-ku Chiyoda-ku coexists. "Takemori Inari Shrine" is adjacent to the Chuo-ku side. On the Chiyoda-ku side, there are Japanese-style public toilets and playground equipment.

The Ryukan River is a Horikawa that connects the Nihonbashi River (former outer moat) and Hamacho River. After the great fire in 1657 (1657), eight banks (approximately 870m) of banks were built for fire prevention, and around 1691 (1691), the moat was excavated at the expense of the townspeople, and commonly known as "Kanda Hatchobori" Was called. Initially, it was also called Shirogane moat, but it was later named Ryukangawa. Ryukan is said to be because the monk "Inoue Ryukan" lived in a town on the west side of the river.

Kanda Hatchobori was founded in 1965 (1765) to 1831 (1831). The tombstone of Toyo-in is known as the stage of a humorous book, where Yaji (Yajirobei) lived in a small rented house on this new road at Tokaido Naka-Kurige. .

Ryukanbashi (Ryukanbashi) was built at the western end of the Nihonbashi River (4-chome, Nihonbashi Honishicho). 1926 (1926) The main pillars of the bridge and part of the bridge girder remain today (lower photo). At that time, the bridge length was 10.5m and the width was 27.0m, and it was Japan's first reinforced concrete truss girder structure. To the east of Ryukan Bridge, Shirahata Bridge, Nishinakano Bridge, Imagawa Bridge (National Route 17), Higashinakano Bridge, Jizo Bridge (Showa-dori), Firebreak Bridge, Kudo Bridge, Jinbei Bridge, Tamade Bridge. There was. Monuments and explanation boards are installed at the site of Imagawa Bridge and Jizo Bridge.