Official
It flutters in the blue sky
During the Edo period, samurai at the Boy's Festival had a custom of decorating armor helmets and warrior dolls in hopes of healthy growth for children, and setting flag banners in the garden.
In the houses of ordinary people other than samurai, carp streamers can now be set up instead of flag banners. It is said that the powerful appearance of the carp in the sky of Hiroshige's work is a symbol of the reconstruction of the time.
In the Edo period, the main carp streamers were black carp in color. Nowadays, you can see colorful carp streamers mixed with black, red, and blue.
The carp streamer fried in the precincts of Suitengu was swimming vigorously in the sky.
◆Suitengu Shrine
2-4-1, Nihonbashikakigaracho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
◆'Suidobashi Surugadai' in 'Hundred Views of Edo' by Hiroshige Utagawa
From the National Diet Library Digital Collection