Exploring Japanese Landmarks in Nishiki-e and Photographs

Toranomon

Located between present day Kasumigaseki 1 chome and Toranomon 1 chome and refers to the area around the Tora-no-mon Gate. There are several theories about the origin of the name Tora-no-mon Gate such as there was a cherry blossom tree called tora no shippo (tiger's tail) in the residence near the gate. Another theory is that Ota Dokan named the gate for the historical fact of the tiger when he went off to war, and also a theory which said that when they tried to bring in a tiger gifted from Korea, the cage was too big to pass through the gate and they rebuilt it. The state of water over the floodgate and flowing into the cistern, Aoi-zaka Hill and Kotohira-gu Shrine was often painted in nishiki-e.

Nishiki-e and Paintings

葵阪之図

葵阪之図

東都あふひ坂葵

東都あふひ坂葵

江戸名勝図会 虎の門

虎の門

名所江戸百景 虎の門外あふひ坂

虎の門外あふひ坂

〔江戸勝景〕 虎之門外之図

虎之門外之図

The NDL Image Bank is a public-domain digital gallery of the National Diet Library, the national library in Japan. Our website has thousands of out-of-copyright Japanese artworks and images from our library’s extensive collection!

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The NDL Digital Exhibitions features the NDL’s unique collections with explanations covering various themes such as nishiki-e, landscape photographs and historical materials. Discover your favorites!