About This Print
The top print shows us the Rice Trading Exchange building in the Kakigara-cho neighborhood of Tokyo. The vertical red cartouche near the Exchange's tower reads 商行会社, referencing the Shoko company, which established the exchange in 1874.1 The vertical red cartouche to the left of the Rice Trading Exchange reads Suitengū, the shrine where couples pray for fertility and safe births. Just the top gables of the temple are shown.The bottom prints shows us busy Etail (Yetai) Bridge 永代橋 spanning the Sumida and connecting its east bank with Tsukuda Island. There has been a bridge is this spot since 1698, when it was opened to serve as a link between the central part of Edo to the east and the then newly developing area to the west.
Suitengu Shrine and Tokyo Rice and Commodities Exchange Today
 The Tokyo Rice and Commodities Exchange in Kakigara-cho, Nihonbashi-ku, Tokyo |  Suitengū shrine’s roots are in Fukuoka prefecture, but it was moved to its present site in Tokyo’s Nihonbashi-kakigaracho district (in Chuo ward) in 1871. |
Print Details
| IHL Catalog | #474A and 474B |
| Title (Description) | Kakigara-cho Rice Trading Exchange and View of Eitai Bridge 蛎売町米市場 永代橋景 |
| Series | Famous Places in Tokyo (Tokyo meisho 東京 名所) |
| Artist | Utagawa Kunitoshi (1847-1899) |
| Signature |  |
| Seal | none |
| Pub. Date |  |
| Publisher |  top: 画工兼出板 平ノ屋 Artist and publisher Hiranoya* bottom: 新和泉丁一番地 猶葉周平 Nihonbashi Shin'izumichō 1-banchi Naraha Shūbei * Hiranoya is not the name of a person, but a seal name associated with the publisher, making this designation for both the artist and publisher a bit strange. |
| Carver |  |
| Impression | good |
| Colors | excellent |
| Condition | good- minor soiling and wrinkling; two prints joined with backing paper |
| Genre | ukiyo-e; meisho-e |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Format | horizontal oban |
| H x W Paper | top print 9 3/8 x 14 in. (23.8 x 35.6 cm); bottom print 9 x 14 in. (22.9 x 35.6 cm) |
| H x W Image | top print 8 3/8 x 12 7/8 in. (21.3 x 32.7 cm); bottom print 8 1/2 x 12 7/8 in. (21.6 x 32.7 cm) |
| Literature | |
| Collections This Print | Tokyo Metropolitan Library 855-C2 (Kakigara-cho Rice Trading Exchange); Bank of Japan Currency Museum (Kakigara-cho Rice Trading Exchange) |
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