Ryogoku hanabi (Fireworks, Ryogoku)

Hiroshige’s Ryogoku hanabi captures one of the most celebrated summer spectacles of Edo. Fireworks at Ryōgoku Bridge became an annual tradition in 1733, when the eighth Tokugawa shogun, Tokugawa Yoshimune, commissioned the first official display as part of a memorial observance for those who had died during a cholera epidemic. The event subsequently developed into one of Edo’s most anticipated seasonal pleasures, drawing large crowds to the Sumida River.
Hiroshige transforms this popular celebration into a poetic nocturnal panorama, contrasting the brilliant bursts of fireworks with the dark expanse of the evening sky and the shimmering reflections on the river. The numerous boats and spectators gathered along the water convey the extraordinary popularity of the event, while the composition captures the distinctive atmosphere of Edo’s summer nights. Through his sensitive balance of light, space and human activity, Hiroshige presents not simply a fireworks display, but a vivid portrait of the social life and seasonal culture of the city.