Nihon Bridge

Description

It was unusual for Kasamatsu Shiro to display modernity. The current print is centered around Nihonbashi that signifies it however. First constructed there using wood in the 17th century, the surrounding area later became the Nihonbashi district, a hotbed of business activity, as reflected in the background by the tall modern structures. The bridge depicted here was built with stone and steel at the beginning of the 20th century. At the time the print was made, modernity was not all-encompassing however, and a closer look reveals a manually propelled boat still floating beneath, unaffected by the new world rising above it.