Craftsmen Who Supported Edo in 1842

Can you guess what these men are doing?
They’re Edo’s quiet heroes — the artisans whose hands shaped the city’s homes, streets, rituals, and daily life.

This is Utagawa Kuniyoshi’s Hyakutenzu (1842), a remarkable tribute to eight master occupations. The title means ‘One Hundred Turns,’ evoking the effort, setbacks, and perseverance behind every craft — and every thriving city.

Look closely at the scene:
• Somaku (杣工) lumberjacks hew timber for temples, shrines, and traditional homes — the great hari beams that hold Edo’s architecture together.
• Tatami-ya (畳屋) carry out worn tatami mats, replacing the very flooring that defined every household.
• Kagoshi (籠師) bend bamboo into a playful horse ornament, the same hands that wove baskets, trays, and tools for daily use.
• Oke-ya (桶屋) coopers hammer a massive barrel while another twists waranawa straw rope — essential for sake, miso, soy sauce, and all the pantry foundations of Edo life.
• Horimonoshi (彫物師) engravers carve the delicate woodblocks that made ukiyo-e prints possible — including the one you’re seeing now.
• Sakan (左官) plasterers mix and spread layers of straw, earth, and lime, crafting walls suited to Edo’s humidity and storms.
• Nuihakushi (縫箔師) stitch embroidery and press gold-silver foil, adorning kosode and Noh costumes with shimmering layers of prestige.
• Yumishi (弓師) bow makers shape the long yumi for archery, ritual, and ceremony — a craft as spiritual as it is technical.

Kuniyoshi’s print celebrates them all: the workers who kept the city standing, dressed, fed, decorated, and defended.

And what about today?
Amazingly, each of these crafts survives — but many stand on fragile ground:
• Forestry workers continue the work of the somaku.
• Tatami remains central to Japanese interiors, with Kumamoto now the production heart.
• Bamboo weaving has shifted from household goods to fine art, with some masters named Living National Treasures.
• Coopers are slowly returning as breweries revive wooden barrels.
• Woodblock carvers and printers still teach and practice Edo methods.
• Nuihaku lives on in ceremonial textiles and Noh stages.
• Plasterers safeguard heritage buildings with traditional layering techniques.
• Yumishi craft bows for kyūdō schools and shrines across Japan.

Every mat, barrel, beam, kimono, and bow echoes a lineage centuries long — yet many crafts now struggle for successors.

Kuniyoshi’s print is more than a portrait. It is a reminder:
Cities are built by hands, not headlines.
And traditions survive only when new hands reach forward to continue them.

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