We talked with Hiroko Honda, a curator at Taito City Shitamachi Museum. This interview was conducted on March 29, 2019.
Ueno in the Meiji Period
Q: What kind of place was the Ueno area in those days when Ogai wrote "Maihime"?
Honda: Let me explain about the Ueno area in around 1889 when Ogai wrote "Maihime" in Ogaisou (the present Suigetsu Hotel Ogaisou). In 1873, the new government at that time established Ueno Park that was once the precincts of Kan-eiji Temple. Since then, museums and a zoo were founded in Ueno Park. I think, since Ueno Park also has Shinobazuno Pond, the Ueno area was a culturally wealthy area.
Especially when Ogai lived in Ogaisou in Ikenohata, horse racing was carried out around Shinobazuno Pond. The horse racing did not have a gambling nature like that of the present day. Its purpose was to train military horses, so this area became a place where many people gathered. The National Industrial Exhibition was also held in Ueno Park. I think it was a place to tell people about new industries and a path they should take while Japan was rapidly Westernized.
Q: Whereabouts was the horse racing held?
It was held around Shinobazuno Pond. A part of the course is currently in the grounds of Ueno Zoological Gardens. It seems that the course lay from the zoo to this museum.
"Ueno Shinobazu Keibakai no Zu" by Chikanobu Yoshu (Owned by the National Diet Library)
View of horse racing (1906, Owned by Taito City Shitamachi Museum)
Shinobazuno Pond, past and present
Q: The history of Shinobazuno Pond was introduced in the exhibition "Shinobazuno Pond - Minamo ni Utsuru Edo kara Tokyo," or Shinobazuno Pond - From Edo to Tokyo, reflected on the surface of the water, which was held in this museum in 2018. How has the Shinobazuno Pond area been developed? Scenes of Iwasaki-tei on the south side of Muenzaka Hill and Ueno Hirokoji are depicted in "Gan," an important novel by Ogai. Has this area still not changed much?
First, let me explain about Shinobazuno Pond. It is said that traces of the ancient Tokyo Bay remain in an area near Ueno. The Tokyo Bay extended to the foot of the Ueno plateau 10,000 to 6,000 years ago. Later, when the sea level dropped, remained water between the Ueno and Hongo plateaus became an original pond of Shinobazuno Pond. It is said that the shape of the pond was roughly formed in B.C.
According to a map made in the Kanei Period, the pond's shape was significantly different. Water flew into the pond from northwest, that is, the Negishi area, and the size was nearly three times larger than that of the present one. When Toeizan Kan-eiji Temple was built by Buddhist Priest Tenkai, and Shinobazuno Pond was contained in the temple estate, a small island (Benten-jima) was made in the center of the pond, and the surrounding area was developed. The pond, which was nearly three times larger, was gradually filled in, and its size became almost the same as that of the present one in the Meiji Period when "Gan" was written. Later in the Meiji Period, Shinobazuno Pond was incorporated into Ueno Park, and developed as a venue for horse racing and exhibitions. Also, embankment works were conducted in 1929, and the pond was divided. Shinobazuno Pond was divided into three until 1951, so its shape was different from the present one.
Shinobazuno Pond as a setting for "Gan" has not changed much. The surrounding area of the pond was used as a venue for horse racing in 1884, and as a site for exhibitions from 1907. The Aizome River that flew into the pond from northwest and the Shonobu River that flew out from southeast, crossed Hirokoji and flew into the Shamisen Moat were covered, and later filled in.
Material of the exhibition "Shinobazuno Pond - From Edo to Tokyo, reflected on the surface of the water"
Q: In "Gan," one of Ogai's masterpieces, a scene in which a wild goose is caught is impressively depicted. What kind of birds have currently been come flying to Shinobazuno Pond? Could you tell me about the four seasons in the area around Shinobazuno Pond?
A variety of birds can be seen in Shonoazuno Pond from autumn to spring. The most conspicuous bird is the black-headed gull. Black-headed gulls come flying around Shinobazuno Pond from early autumn. A scene that black-headed gulls perch on a fence of the pond is particularly seen in winter. Common cormorants are kept in a pond of cormorants in Ueno Zoological Gardens, which is located north of Shinobazuno Pond. They are also seen in a lotus pond on the south side. When black-headed gulls and wild ducks come flying, I feel the arrival of autumn (However, common cormorants stay in the pond throughout the year).
Waterbirds, including mallards and tufted ducks, also appear in winder. It is said that 14 kinds of birds, including those birds, can be observed in Shinobazuno Pond. In March 2019, black-headed gulls, great white egrets, gray herons, coots, mallards and common cormorants could be seen in the lotus pond in front of the museum. Also, skylarks and Japanese white-eyes come flying over blooming cherry trees.
Although people ask, "Did wild gooses come flying to Shonobazuno Pond?" after reading "Gan" by Ogai Mori, wild gooses were originally seen throughout Japan. Since wild goose hunting was opened in the Meiji Period, and they were overhunted, their population decreased greatly, and they were listed as protected birds. It seems that a great number of them came flying in the Meiji Period when "Gan" was written. They have currently come flying to Hokkaido and Miyagi Prefecture.
Clothes in the Meiji Period
Q: Did clothes and living of people change when times changed from the Edo to Meiji Periods?
As to clothes, although Western clothes were introduced to Japan, only a privileged minority wore them. Western clothes were adopted as uniforms for students and policemen. However, I think, ordinary people mainly wore Japanese clothes until the early Showa Period. The biggest change in makeup was that women stopped applying tooth black. (continued in the right column)
In the Edo Period, black-stained teeth indicated that women were already married. However, the custom was not preferred in the Meiji Period, and gradually disappeared.
As to the traditional Japanese hairstyle, I think, it has widely been known that Empress Dowager Shoken took the initiative to stop dressing her hair in Japanese style. Also, the traditional Japanese hairstyle was once dressed up, it was not undressed for a long time, and could not be washed, so women cleaned their hair by combing with a fine-toothed comb. Therefore, they gradually dressed their hair simply. It was a hairstyle with a bun or low pompadour.
"Tokashi-kushi," or comb to unfasten hair, and "Yui-kushi," or comb to do hair in a chignon, were used for the traditional Japanese hairstyle. (Owned by Taito City Shitamachi Museum)
A woman dressing her hair in a swept-back style with the bun at the back of the head. In Ogai's novel "Seinen," girls and married women dress their hair like this. (around 1905, from "An illustrated guide of Shitamachi Museum")
Q: Women adopted a hairstyle that was suitable for Western-style dresses, didn't they?
Yes. For example, girl students wore their hair in pigtails. In such a way, hairstyles changed rapidly.
Q: Many women wear a hakama, or pleated skirt, for events, such as a graduation ceremony, these days. Did girl students at that time wore the same kind of dress?
Not only girl students but also female teachers wore a kimono and a hakama at that time. Later, girls in Takarazuka and Shochiku revue companies also wore a kimono and a hakama as their uniforms. I think they were affected by girls in those days.
Q: In Ogai's novel "Gan," Koizumi, a protagonist, wears "Satsuma-gasusri," a kimono with splashed patterns, a Kokura hakama, and a Japanese half-coat with the same splashed patterns. Ogai described Koizumi's student-like clothes, "He wears a brown soft hat, Japanese navy-blue socks and Satsuma geta clogs." How men's clothes have changed?
Students at that time were high teens to early 20s, in which I think they were most easily influenced by those around them. I guess, since those clothes were comfortable, and they could select their clothes freely, such clothes came to stay. There is a picture in which students' shirts are seen from lower parts of sleeves. I think they wore shirts under standard kimonos in an eclectic way.
Students wearing Japanese long half-coats (around 1897, from "An illustrated guide of Shitamachi Museum")
Traffic in the Meiji Period
Q: How was the traffic situation in this area at that time?
Horse tramcars ran in the Ueno area. The tramcars ran from Shinbashi to Ueno and Asakusa, and returned to Shinbashi. So the Ueno area was relatively close to public transport, and people could go to various places from the area. It was a time when four-wheel drive vehicles were few in number, so rickshaws and carts ran on public roads.
Q: What kind of structure did the horse tramcar have?
A horse pulled a carriage on a railroad track. In short, it was like the present streetcar. After the horse tramcar discontinued, the streetcar began to run. Most streetcars ran on the same railroad tracks used by horse tramcars. Then, railroad tracks were extended to various parts of Tokyo. The first streetcar ran between Ueno and Asakusa, and the area was a transportation crossroads in the Meiji Period. In addition to the fact that the area had Senso-ji Temple and museums, the biggest factor was that Ueno Station was established, which allowed people to go to the Tohoku and Joban regions from the station. For example, people took trains from somewhere in the west, got off at Shinbashi, rode horse tramcars, transferred to other trains at Ueno, and went to the Tohoku region, or got off at Ueno or Asakusa, and went sightseeing.
The south exit of Ueno Station in 1905. Ueno Station has played an important role as a transportation crossroads in Tokyo since its foundation in 1883. (From "An illustrated guide of Shitamachi Museum")
Q: Rickshaws often appear in novels other than those of Ogai.
I think, since rickshaws easily went to a variety of places, they were often used to go to nearby places. Rickshaws also appear in novels by Ichiyo Higuchi. In her novel "Jusanya," or thirteenth night, Oseki, a protagonist, takes a rickshaw to go home. The rickshaw man is her old flame. It is an episode that makes me feel like crying. I think rickshaws in the Meiji Period were what are now taxis. Rickshaws originated in Asakusa. A rickshaw is now displayed in front of an exhibition room on the first floor of Taito City Shitamachi Museum. The rickshaw was invented in the early Meiji Period in Japan.
Although many things were imported from Europe and North America during the modernization of Japan in the Meiji Period, the rickshaw was born in Japan. In Ogai's novel "Vita Sexualis," a scene in which a protagonist takes a rickshaw after dining in a Japanese-style restaurant is depicted. The scene has to do a lot with the plot of the story. (From "An illustrated guide of Shitamachi Museum")
Hiroko Honda, a curator at Taito City Shitamachi Museum
Taito City Shitamachi Museum (2-1 Uenokoen, Taito City)