Shinagawa

Current Address: Shinagawa-ku, Kitashinagawa / Minamishinagawa
Description: Seafood was abundant off the coast of Shinagawa, and the term "Edo mae" (Edo style) originated here. As one of the Osai Sakana Hachigaura (8 fishing areas which presented seafood to the Shogun family), fishing was very prosperous, however after the Perry Expedition, Odaiba was constructed, and the traffic of warships, etc. made it impossible to use large scale fishing gear, and the seaweed gathering business which was already famous throughout the country, prospered even more. In addition, because the sea was shallow, even the area offshore would become tidal flats past noon, so it was popular for people to go offshore in boats in the early mornings of the spring and summer, wait for the tide, and then gather oysters, clams, flounder and seaweed. On June 7th, the Shinagawa Tenno Matsuri festival was held,and during the festival the mikoshi portable shrines of the Ebara-jinja Shrine, which was south of the Meguro-kawa River at the time, and the mikoshi portable shrines of Shingawa Myojin no Yashiro Shrine, which was located north across the river, passed on the bridge and were also split between the north and south. This became one of the annual events of Edo together with the shellfish gathering mentioned above.