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Where was the first public bath in the Edo period? Why do you call a bathtub a “tub”?

It is well known that the Nihonbashi Fish Market existed for more than 300 years from the beginning of 1600 to 1935. I plan to seriously describe the history of the fish banks in several blogs from now on, but I would like to introduce interesting stories such as "sento" used by the common people of Edo and chicken wholesalers.

As part of the `` Edo Great Contract '' that Ieyasu Tokugawa went after entering the office, `` Hirakawa '' that poured into the Hibiya inlet in Edo was connected to the Nihonbashi River, and ships from Edo Bay came up to the east side of Edo Castle. Was. When the full-scale construction of the Edo city began to start, the area began to be bustling, and Yokkaichi stood on the "Four Day", and fish began to be sold along with rice grain, firewood charcoal, kimono, etc. Machiya began to be opened, and it was named "Dosan Bridge" because the general's physician, "Dosan Manase Hogen," lived.

Magoemon Mori's eldest son, Kuemon, served as a fish service for the Shogunate, and opened a fish shop in Dosan Kawagishicho, near the current Tokiwa Bridge near Dosanri. It is a small-scale one mainly centered on the Shogun's family, and when it is not possible to serve the increasingly larger set of Edo Castle, the family and people from the same country gradually open stores and start to form something like a fish shore.

There was a small fish market on the north side of Dosan Bridge, and a blue fish market on the south side across the moat.

The bustle of the Dosan riverbank

Where was the first public bath on the banks of the Dosan River in the Edo period? Why do you call a bathtub a “tub”?

There are also prostitutes and public baths on the banks of the Dosan River. It is said that the "steam bath" opened by Yoichi Ise under Zenja Bridge in 1591 is the first public bath. The early bathhouse has no bathtub and is a steam bath.

Even with the times, water was valuable, fuel firewood was expensive, and there were few houses with indoor bath. The Edo kid seemed to have dry skin to go to Yuya many times a day, and seemed to be smart saying "I'm sorry."

In the late Edo period, Edo children seemed to like baths so much that records were recorded that there were 600 houses in Edo city. The bathing fee is eight sentences for adults (about 120 yen), half of the price of a cup of soba. Many of the public baths were located in downtown areas with many townhouses, so people in the suburbs could not use them. The word "tub" was born because a bathtub was placed on a boat floating on a moat and river in Edo town and traveled as a mobile public bath.

 

Bathtub

Where was the first public bath in the Edo period? Why do you call a bathtub a “tub”?

At the dock, a boat that bathes the boatman and the passengers of the boat appeared, but this is the bathtub. At first, there was no bathtub, and it was called a "watering boat" just by loading a tub containing hot water. Eventually, it became a houseboat with a bathtub, and began to do business horizontally on ports and banks. It is said that the bathing fee of the bathtub was half of the public bath = 4 sentences.

The Yokkaichi area has become the busiest place in Edo, but once the full-scale construction of the city of Edo begins, the fish shores of the Dosan River will be relocated to the landfill area in Nihonbashi. The full-fledged "Nihonbashi Fish Bank" story will start next time.

 

Reference:

1)　The Truth of the Tokugawa Shogun Family:　Masaya Yamashita, Gakken Co.,Ltd. 2007 

2)　Nihonbashi Fish Bank Story:　Kozaburo Omura (Sei-Abo) published in 1984 

3)　100 years of fish shore:　Fish Bank 100 Year Editorial Committee, Nikkan Food Newspaper, 1968

4)　Chuo-ku History Maps [Nihonbashi Edition]:　Chuo-ku, Tokyo Board of Education, 1995

5)　Nihonbashi Fish Market Pictures:　Chuo-ku designated Tangible Cultural Property (3-16-4 Tsukiji, owned by the Kaneko family)