11

Shinagawa
(品川)

The characters 千種 on the kite held by the boy read "Chikusa," which is the name of the village seen across Edo Bay from Shinagawa. The merchant at left has bent over to light a kiseru pipe which he holds upside-down to keep out of the wind; a tobacco-box with smoking equipment is on the bench by his left hand. It is not clear why the tea-shop girl is holding up the loose rear panel of the samurai’s hakama skirt, the bottom half of his formal kamishimo outfit, as they watch – is she keeping it out of the way, or perhaps helping him adjust it? The reading of the partial sign at top left is unclear.

Edo meisho zue, 4: Shingawa offing (1837)

Ehon monomioka, 7: Famous Restaurants in Shinagawa (1785)

The text quoes a riddle from 永正十三年正月後奈良院御撰 (Go-Nara-in On-nazo no kai, 1516): 謎合せに “海の道十里にたらず蛤," where the riddling phrases “sea road” (hama, beach) and “not ten leagues”(kuri, nine leagues) combine to form the word “clam” (hamaguri). (江戸名所図絵品川汐干 (vol . 4, p. 18).

1.自慢菴花咲翁 Jiman’an Hanasakiō (Flowery Old Man of Pride Inn)
千万の船の荷物もあまりなく江戸の気せうのよくさばけたり	senman no fune no nimotsu mo amari naku Edo no kishō no yoku sabaketari	A million boats each carrying little weight - the Edo character in a nutshell.

2. 為善堂最楽 Izendō Sairaku (Doinggood Havingfun)
つとゆかば波やよせなんしほ干かた沖へハよしに品川の浦	tsuto yukaba nami ya yose nan shiohigata oki e wa yoshi ni Shinagawa no ura	The waves in ranks advance suddenly, then halt well off the tidal-flat ramparts of Shinagawa Bay.
The seashore imagery of the poem puns on the terminology of the traditional go board-game: the term nami ("waves") refers to the ranks of the board, oki ("tidal flat") to a fortified position, and yose ("advance") to the endgame.

3. 不了軒止安 Furyōken Shian (Evil Thoughts)
見渡せは助六がいふ安房上総羽子田の鼻へはひる親船	miwataseba Sukeroku ga iu Awa Kazusa Haneda no hana e hairu oyabune	Gazing out one sees the lands of Awa and Kazusa that Sukeroku spoke of, and the small boats entering through “The Nose of Haneda.”
The poem echoes the famous speech by the beloved dramatic character Sukeroku about the superior view of the lands east of Edo afforded by the frame of his Edo-style chonmage hairdo.

4.市人 Ichibito (Merchant)
あそぶ日ハ海苔とる舟も品川のすへあげてほす浦の初春	asobu hi wa nori toru fune mo Shinagawa no sueagete hosu ura no hatsuharu	On this holiday even the seaweed collected by the boats in Shinagawa Bay is left to shrivel up: the Start of Spring on the bay.
The imagery is of New Years Day.