Exploring Japanese Landmarks in Nishiki-e and Photographs

Saruwaka-cho

A theater town from the end of the Edo Period. From the beginning of the Edo Period onward, the officially permitted kabuki, puppetry and other performance theaters which were located in Sakaicho (Nakamura Theater), Fukiyacho (Ichimura Theater) and Kobikicho (Morita Theater) were ordered to be forcibly relocated to this area in 1841 as a result of the Tenpo Reforms. The name of the area is connected to the name of Saruwaka (Nakamura) Kanzaburo who is said to have been the founder of Edo-style Kabuki. The area featured a number of tea houses connected to the theaters which provided visitors with guidance, food, rest and other services, and many theater proprietors and actors settled in the area, forming massive entertainment district. The district flourished until the first year of the Meiji Era, however, the theaters relocated one after another thereafter and the theater town was lost.