Glimpse of life in Edo, Kidai Shoran

I have long been interested in the history of Japan, especially in the Edo period, so two years ago I was fascinated when I found this scroll on the corridor connecting the Tokyo Metro Mitsukoshimae Station with the Mitsukoshi department store. Called "Kidai Shoran, Excellent View of Our Prosperous Age in Edo", it was painted by an unknown artist in 1805 and it illustrates life scenes from the commercial area between the famous Nihonbashi and Kanda Imagawabashi. The scroll from Mitsukoshimae, 17-meters long, is an enlarged copy of the original 12-meters painting owned by the Museum of Asian Art from Berlin.

I love to study it from time to time, and today I would like to show you this complex scene from the Nihonbashi bridge. If you want to see more, you can see a good part of the Kidai Shoran scroll here.