"Honjo" Kikukawa, where the atmosphere of the Edo period still lingers.

Until the early Edo period, this area was a marshy area, unsuitable for habitation. However, in 1657, when the Great Meireki Fire, the largest fire of the Edo period, burnt down the whole of Edo, the Shogunate started to relocate samurai residences to this area. The area known as Honjo, in the southern part of Sumida Ward, was then developed as a town mainly consisting of samurai residences.

The town of Kikukawa is located at the southern end of the Honjo area. The name "Kikukawa" was taken from the name of the river that flowed to the west of the town.
Although the name "Honjo" is no longer attached to the area, the custom of calling the area "Honjo Kikukawa", based on the name of Honjo, which has been familiar to the area since the old days, has taken root.

What's the Meireki Fire?

A girl dies of a love illness.
Her memento was a matching furisode (long-sleeved kimono) with the person she fell in love with. The kimono was resold and made its owner sick everywhere it went. The furisode has some kind of fate. The furisode, which were on fire, danced in the sky as if people were standing up, and covered the town of Edo with red flames.

The biggest fire of the Edo period, which led to the development of Kikukawa, and indeed the whole area, has been given the alias 'Furisode Fire' because of the above episode (although there are various theories as to the cause of the outbreak of the fire). The story became the subject of a historical drama, and was also written about in a novel by Koizumi Yakumo.

Historical figures with links to Honjo

Kira Uenosuke

Chushingura is popular both at home and abroad. The original setting of the Genroku Ako Incident was Honjo Matsuzaka-cho Park (the site of the Kira Uenosuke Residence) in this area.
In this incident, Ako Rōshi (a lordless samurai of Ako domain) attacked the residence of Kira Uenosuke in order to avenge the death of their feudal lord. It was a major incident that took place in a peaceful world without war, and combined with the fact that the Ako Rōshi found aesthetics in the 'bushido' of risking their lives to avenge their lord, it attracted the interest of many people at the time.
The incident soon became the subject of ningyo joruri (puppet theatre), and to this day various works based on the Genroku Ako Incident, including Chushingura, have been produced and enjoyed by many people.


Eighth shogun, Tokugawa Yoshimune

A spring tradition, cherry blossom viewing along the Sumida River. Fireworks displays on the Sumida River are a summer tradition. These events, which are familiar to Japanese and foreign visitors alike, were organised by the 8th Shogun, Tokugawa Yoshimune, famous for his 'Abarenbo Shogun' (A Wild Shogun).
Hanami started when he planted cherry trees along both banks of the Sumida River for the enjoyment of the common people and recommended it as a place for cherry blossom viewing.
Fireworks festivals began as a memorial to the victims of the Kyoho famine and cholera, and as a means of dispelling the evil plague. Although Yoshimune's reforms led to a number of revolts and his image as a 'tyrant' has preceded him, he was also a 'great lord' who turned his attention to the lives of ordinary people in this way.