Chuo-ku Tourism Association correspondent blog

There's a little more this year. It's time to look back on the year.

I like the busy preparations for the New Year, and I like to take a break while watching the sunset sky of New Year's Eve.

And the pleasure of New Year's Eve is "New Year's Eve Soba".

In the first place, I love soba, and if I don't eat it for a while, I miss it as sexy, but New Year's Eve soba can give another real pleasure. It has a unique taste because there is no feeling of chopping the reflection of the year gradually on the chest and the feeling of excitement waiting while waiting for the new year approaches.

Of course, it is good to enjoy soba at each home, but it is also good to get a certain taste at your favorite shop.

There are many famous soba shops in Chuo-ku, but this time, let's visit the soba shops around Nihonbashi Muromachi 4-chome to Nihonbashi Honishicho 4-chome.

There is a street on the way from Shin-Nihonbashi Station to Kanda Station.

One of the most typical examples is the Muromachi Sandbox. It is a long-established store that is popular among sandbox-style shops. I also visit occasionally when I walk around Nihonbashi. The inside of the store is quite large, but it is always crowded with many customers.

Let's take a look at the history of soba in Edo just in case. Originally, it seems that soba was eaten like "soba scratching", but it is said that "soba cutting" began to spread around the end of the Sengoku period. It is said that soba shops began to be built in the town of Edo around the end of the 17th century. And it seems that it spread throughout the town of Edo in no time.

By the way, it is said that the name "sandbox" originated from the fact that there was a delicious soba shop near the place where construction sand was originally placed at the time of the construction of Osaka Castle, and it came to be called "sandbox". I am. Later, "Sandbox" advanced to Edo, and "Yabu Soba" was born from that trend. In addition, there is a flow of soba shops originating in Shinshu, which means that this is connected to the current "Sarashina" system.　

By the way, it is strange that Osaka, the birthplace of the sandbox, currently has no sandbox headwater, and there are quite a few shops called Sarashina.

Soba often appears in Edo Rakugo. I remember what the deceased predecessor, Bunji Katsura, was saying before his birth. "Edo kid tee doesn't mean eating soba. Soba enjoys the throat, so it's true that "Taguru" is true. It was said that it was a wildfire to use toothpicks after eating at a soba shop. "　　

Well, I just want to eat it as I like, but I'm looking forward to seeing the delicious "New Year's Soba" even though it doesn't suit me.

We hope everyone will enjoy the New Year's Eve food event. And please have a good year. I look forward to seeing you again next year.　

From the last time, we started a series introducing episodes of railways in Chuo-ku. In addition to railway fans, I would like to touch on the appeal of railways that have supported Japan's development as infrastructure.

The "railway carriage" introduced last time has been replaced with a tram due to difficulties in maintaining the track and measures against horse manure. In 1903 (Meiji 36), streetcars began running in Shimbashi-Shinagawa and Sukiyabashi-Kanda Bridge. Trains came to the current Chuo-ku. 

After the merger of capital in parallel, the city of Tokyo acquired it in 1911 and restarted it as a public railway. Today's Toei Transportation is starting this year. In other words, this year marks the 100th anniversary of its opening. It has long been loved as a foot of citizens and citizens while overcoming the damage of the Great Kanto Earthquake and the war.

However, in the wave of motorization during the period of high economic growth, Toden was abolished one after another, and the area between Nihonbashi and Eitai Bridge, which remained in Chuo-ku until the end, disappeared in November 1972 (Showa 47). Many routes have been handed down to Toei buses and subways.

Looking at the photos left in old postcards, it can be seen that the train has blended into the scenery of the town and has become a part of life. It must have been a friendly person to the people of the time.

An elderly person living nearby told me, "I went to high school on a Toden" or "I often met someone at a transfer stop." It's engraved on people's memories.

However, "trams" may be revived in Chuo-ku. The plan of the next-generation tram (LRT), which Chuo-ku started a survey this year, is attracting attention. In the future, there is a possibility that it will be laid between Ginza and Harumi. If realized, it will be a revival since Ginza disappeared in 1971 (Showa 43).

Trams are already active in many large cities such as Western Europe. It is mainly called 'tram'. Expectations are also increasing in terms of low noise, energy saving, and environmental protection.

Even in Paris, France, which I visited this summer, cool trains came and went, and it was established in the city. It was a tram that was revived in 2006 for the first time in 69 years.

Speaking of the beginning of Japanese railways, many people know that after a temporary business period, it started as a government-run railway between Shimbashi (Shiodome) and Yokohama in the fall of 1872 (Meiji 5). The opening date of October 14, which was changed to the new calendar, is now known as "Railway Anniversary". The former Shimbashi Station, which was the first train station, is now reproduced in a corner of the Shiodome New Development Area.

By the way, our Chuo-ku is also greatly involved in the history of railways. In the first place, Shimbashi Station, a former government-run railway, is said to have been convenient for many foreigners to use because it is a location that directly leads to the foreign settlement of Tsukiji at that time. In this series, I would like to introduce the four-sided story about railways in Chuo-ku in several times. Please get along with me.

First of all, we will focus on "railroad carriages".

 In 1882 (Meiji 15), the Tokyo Carriage Railway opened from Shimbashi (Shiodome) to Ginza / Kyobashi to Nihonbashi via the aforementioned public railway. The situation at that time remains as ukiyo-e. Among them, the "Ginza-dori Brick Railroad Carriage Round Trip Map" drawn by Hiroshige Utagawa, the third generation, seems to show the atmosphere of Civilization and enlightenment at that time. The location is around Owaricho 2-chome at that time, so is it around the current Ginza 6-chome? What was the appearance of the carriage railway running on Ginza Street?

Since this [Tokyo Carriage Railway] was opened with private capital, there is also a view that it is the first private railway in Japan. In any case, I think it is a memorable thing that the new form of transportation has been realized in the area around Chuo-ku.

In addition, the "Tokyo Railway Carriage Map" drawn by Yoshison Utagawa is a postage stamp.

By the way, the trajectory width of the carriage railway was 1,372mm. Since this trajectory was later adopted as it was on the tram, the current Toden Arakawa Line has the same trajectory width. The international trajectory is 1,435mm, which is used by Shinkansen and some private railways in Japan. (JR conventional lines have a narrow gauge of 1,067 millimeters)

In an unusual example, Keio Electric Railway, which originally started as a tram, has 1,372mm, so the Toei Shinjuku Line, which is directly connected to each other, is the same trajectory. Therefore, you can see all these types of trajectory widths in Chuo-ku. It's a very interesting story for railway fans, but I'll leave it here today.

The `` railway carriage '' that dashingly ran in the spirit of the Japanese soul Western age of the Meiji era spread throughout the country afterwards, but eventually it was replaced with steam locomotives and trains, and by around 1955, including non-regular business It seems that everything has disappeared. It is a memory that seems to be staggered in history now, but I would like to leave it carefully as one page of traffic history.

※In the photo, "Ginza-dori brick railway carriage round trip map" quoted

※In the photo, "Japan Post Stamp" (International Affairs Week, 1971)

※Photo taken by the author below: Did the "railway carriage" run around here?