Edo Meisho Zue - History

History

Edo Meisho Zue took form over a span of more than 40 years. It was conceived by Saitō Yukio Nagaaki (1737–1799) who, influenced by the proliferation of famous site guides about places in Japan’s Kansai region, decided Edo needed one, too. He is thought to have begun work around 1791 and is known to have gotten permission to publish and written a foreword, but he died before he could finish. From this point forward, Yukio’s son-in-law Saitō Yukitaka Agatamaro (1772–1818) began work, undertaking new research to add new sites and re-researching other information; but he, too, died suddenly shortly before he could complete his task. Yukitaka’s son, Saitō Yukinari Gesshin (1804–1878), was only 15 at the time, so he was not able to take up immediately where his father had left off; nonetheless, Yukinari was determined to complete his father’s and grandfather’s labor of love. When he finally managed to bring all the research, writing, editing, and correcting to fruition in 1834, he delivered to the public an innovative and highly detailed human geography that even today serves as a valuable resource for academic and hobby historians of late–Edo-period Tokyo.

Edo Meisho Zue was illustrated by Hasegawa Settan (1778–1843). His illustrations are credited with contributing as much to the work’s fame and long popularity—people still refer to it today for walking tours of historical sites—as does the prose.