Illustrated handscroll on paper with scenes of the Great Meiwa Fire of 1772
Scroll (190 x 3980 mm.), outer front endpaper covered with blue silk, inner endpaper of gold & silver paper, manuscript title label on outside “Meiwa kasai zu” 明和火災図 [“Meiwa Fire illustrated”]. [Japan]: late Edo.
Japanese cities have always been plagued by terrible fires. Regarding Edo, “the wooden construction of all of the city and the narrow lanes of commoner quarters made fire a devastating experience, and it came sufficiently frequently to be called ‘the flowers of Edo.’ Fires were no respecters of status and rank, and when driven by winter winds in the dry season they roared through the city.…In the 268 years of Tokugawa rule, the Tosa ‘upper’ yashiki (at ‘Blacksmith Bridge’) suffered eighteen fires, and the Shiba middle residence burned twelve times. Four of these were citywide conflagrations. Merchant areas burned thirty-one times in two centuries, and even the shogun’s castle suffered major damage seven times.”–Jansen, The Making of Modern Japan (Harvard: 2000), p. 151.
This wonderfully detailed scroll is a record of the Great Meiwa Fire of 1772 in Edo, one of the three most severe fires of the Edo era, destroying a 30-square-mile section of the city (including an estimated 178 temples and shrines, 127 daimyo residences, 878 non-official residences, 8705 houses of bannermen, and 628 blocks of merchant dwellings). Almost 15,000 people died, and another 4,000 went missing. The fire was deliberately set by a Buddhist priest of the Daien-ji temple on the eastern side of the Meguro River. Because of the regularity of such fires, the city of Edo organized 48 brigades of trained firefighters, with each group having a specific name after the old i ro ha alphabet.
Our scroll begins with introductory text, dated and signed “Meiwa Mizunoe tatsu aki / Guyū bō shi / [Tanaka] Totsugen hitsu” 明和壬辰秋 / 愚友某誌 / 訥言 筆 [“1772 Autumn / text by anonymous friend / painted by Totsugen”]. Tanaka Totsugen (1767-1823) was a prominent artist, and we believe that our scroll is a copy of Totsugen’s original creation. The text gives details of the origins of the fire, its path, and a summary of the incredible devastation.
This remarkable scroll consists of four long panoramic scenes. The first depicts the origins of the fire at the temple. We seeing a priest running from the burning temple, carrying a precious scroll. Adjacent modest thatch roofed homes are on fire, with residents fleeing, carrying their valuables. Next to them is a grand mansion in danger. We see servants removing precious objects, burying some of them in the ground. A kura warehouse is being replastered to protect it. Workers are on the roofs, pouring water, fanning the wind away from the house, and brushing off embers. A fireman is rushing by on horseback, while residents seek relief in ponds.
The next scene shows the fire making its way through the city. In the desperate attempts to flee the fire, two palanquins carrying noble people have collided on a bridge, completely blocking the way for others. A samurai is in the water, swimming away, and on land, we see people on fire, collapsing onto the ground.
The following two scenes depict the inferno of the fire in vivid oranges and reds. Desperate residents are crossing the river, and all the vegetation is aflame. A samurai is seen committing seppuku in despair, a fireman is carrying a person away from the fire, and all the houses, right up to the waterside, are burning.
In fine condition, preserved in a wooden box.
Japanese cities have always been plagued by terrible fires. Regarding Edo, “the wooden construction of all of the city and the narrow lanes of commoner quarters made fire a devastating experience, and it came sufficiently frequently to be called ‘the flowers of Edo.’ Fires were no respecters of status and rank, and when driven by winter winds in the dry season they roared through the city.…In the 268 years of Tokugawa rule, the Tosa ‘upper’ yashiki (at ‘Blacksmith Bridge’) suffered eighteen fires, and the Shiba middle residence burned twelve times. Four of these were citywide conflagrations. Merchant areas burned thirty-one times in two centuries, and even the shogun’s castle suffered major damage seven times.”–Jansen, The Making of Modern Japan (Harvard: 2000), p. 151.
This wonderfully detailed scroll is a record of the Great Meiwa Fire of 1772 in Edo, one of the three most severe fires of the Edo era, destroying a 30-square-mile section of the city (including an estimated 178 temples and shrines, 127 daimyo residences, 878 non-official residences, 8705 houses of bannermen, and 628 blocks of merchant dwellings). Almost 15,000 people died, and another 4,000 went missing. The fire was deliberately set by a Buddhist priest of the Daien-ji temple on the eastern side of the Meguro River. Because of the regularity of such fires, the city of Edo organized 48 brigades of trained firefighters, with each group having a specific name after the old i ro ha alphabet.
Our scroll begins with introductory text, dated and signed “Meiwa Mizunoe tatsu aki / Guyū bō shi / [Tanaka] Totsugen hitsu” 明和壬辰秋 / 愚友某誌 / 訥言 筆 [“1772 Autumn / text by anonymous friend / painted by Totsugen”]. Tanaka Totsugen (1767-1823) was a prominent artist, and we believe that our scroll is a copy of Totsugen’s original creation. The text gives details of the origins of the fire, its path, and a summary of the incredible devastation.
This remarkable scroll consists of four long panoramic scenes. The first depicts the origins of the fire at the temple. We seeing a priest running from the burning temple, carrying a precious scroll. Adjacent modest thatch roofed homes are on fire, with residents fleeing, carrying their valuables. Next to them is a grand mansion in danger. We see servants removing precious objects, burying some of them in the ground. A kura warehouse is being replastered to protect it. Workers are on the roofs, pouring water, fanning the wind away from the house, and brushing off embers. A fireman is rushing by on horseback, while residents seek relief in ponds.
The next scene shows the fire making its way through the city. In the desperate attempts to flee the fire, two palanquins carrying noble people have collided on a bridge, completely blocking the way for others. A samurai is in the water, swimming away, and on land, we see people on fire, collapsing onto the ground.
The following two scenes depict the inferno of the fire in vivid oranges and reds. Desperate residents are crossing the river, and all the vegetation is aflame. A samurai is seen committing seppuku in despair, a fireman is carrying a person away from the fire, and all the houses, right up to the waterside, are burning.
In fine condition, preserved in a wooden box.
Details
Title
Illustrated handscroll on paper with scenes of the Great Meiwa Fire of 1772
Author
MEIWA FIRE SCROLL
Condition
Unknown