Sanjo Dori on the right part of the Folding Screen of Uesugi Hon Rakuchu Rakugai Zu, Source: Yonezawa City Uesugi Museum

After the advent of the Kamakura shogunate at the end of the 12th century, Kyoto and its important Sanjo Dori continued to maintain its role as a political and cultural center.

Although many details about the area around Sanjo Avenue during the Kamakura period (1185-1333) are not known, it is certain that it was a busy street lined with aristocratic residences, homes of commoners, and inns of samurai warriors.

After the fall of the Kamakura shogunate in the mid-13th century and the upheavals of the Northern and Southern Dynasties following the new Kenmu Restoration, a new warrior government, the Ashikaga shogunate, was established. This shogunate is usually referred to as the "Muromachi Shogunate," and the shogun's palace in the early days was located in Sanjo, Shimogyo. In particular, during the reign of Takauji Ashikaga, a residence for him was established in Sanjo Bomon Alley, which later became known as Tojiji.

Even after the shogunate was moved to Kamigyo during the reign of Yoshimitsu, the Sanjo area of Shimogyo retained its historical importance, and the 4th Shogun Yoshimochi and the 10th Shogun Yoshitane established their shogunal residences here. The residences of feudal lords and warriors were concentrated in this area, and Sanjo Dori continued to function as part of the political center of Kyoto.

The "Uesugi Hon Rakuchu Rakugai Zu”, which was painted in the Sengoku Period, depicts in detail what Kyoto was like at that time, and shows that Kamigyo and Shimogyo were independent areas surrounded by walls and moats called “Sogamae” respectively. Sanjo Dori is an important road that crosses the northern part of Shimogyo from east to west, and the "Uesugi Hon Rakuchu Rakugai Zu" depicts the residence of Zuichiku Takeda on the north side of Sanjo Dori, between Karasuma Dori and Muromachi Dori. Zuichiku was a first-rate doctor of his time, and people lined up at his door waiting to see him.

In addition, a temple is depicted to the northeast of the intersection of Sanjo Dori and Higashinotoin Dori, which was known as the nun-monastery of Tsugenji, which was opened in the early Muromachi period. Since Donge-in, a pagoda temple of Tsugenji, became famous, the entire temple came to be known by that name.The Dongein, depicted on the folding screen, has a wood-board roof in the style of an aristocratic residence instead of tiles, creating a soft atmosphere typical of a nunnery.

The origins of the Donge-in can be traced back to Tsugenji, which was built on the site of Takakura No Miya by General Yoshimitsu Ashikaga, the third Shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate. As one of the five nun temples, Tongenji was built for the nun Chisen Shōtsū (the mother of Ryoshi Kino and spouse of Yoshiakira Ashikga, the second shogun). General Yoshimitsu granted the temple a domain of about 500,000 m2, and thereafter, the temple was headed by a daughter of the shogun's family.

From the late 15th to 16th centuries, the temple was destroyed by fire several times, but was rebuilt each time. The temple was burnt down again in 1603, but was rebuilt by the daughter of Emperor Gosei, and in 1707, Emperor Higashiyama presented the temple with a purple robe, giving it the same privileges as Daishoji and Hogyoji.

The founder of the temple, Chisen, lived and died at Donge-in located to the east of the temple site, and the temple came to be called so; hoever, successive abbots throughout the Edo period used the name "Tongenji abbot" for the temple.

The temple was destroyed by fire many times after that, and was rebuilt after the Meiji Restoration on land owned by Rokuoin's pagoda, Zuio-in.

The name “Donge” refers to Udonge (Ficus racemosa) which blossoms once in three-thousand years. It is said that the Holy King appears when the flowers bloom.

It is the third in a line of seven nun temples in Kyoto, following Daishoji and Hokyoji, and it is also called “Mt. Zuiun”.

Narumi Oribe Bowl
Nakano-cho, Nakagyo-ku (Excavated from Sanjo Setomonoya-cho site), owned by Kyoto City

Ao-oribe Square Checker-pattern Bowl
Nakano-cho, Nakagyo-ku (Excavated from Sanjo Setomonoya-cho site), owned by Kyoto City

Ao-oribe Square Hung-persimmon-pattern Bowl
Nakano-cho, Nakagyo-ku (Excavated from Sanjo Setomonoya-cho site), owned by Kyoto City

Oribe Black Tea Bowl
Nakano-cho, Nakagyo-ku (Excavated from Sanjo Setomonoya-cho site), owned by Kyoto City

The Momoyama period produced a number of innovative ceramics, "Momoyama Pottery," that were not seen in the history of Japanese crafts up to that time. New styles of pottery were produced, such as the use of glazes with unprecedented colors and the appearance of pictorial brush strokes. In particular, the appearance of distorted shapes that lacked symmetry and a variety of forms must have been a completely new experience for the people at the time.

Many stores selling this "Momoyama pottery" were located on Sanjo Dori in Kyoto. This area is called "Setomonoya-cho (the “town of pottery”) and consists of Benkei Ishi Machi, Nakanomachi, Shimohakusan-cho, Fukunaga-cho, and Aburaya-cho, where many pieces of pottery from all over Japan have been found, including Takatori, Karatsu, Bizen, Shigaraki, and Mino.

Detailed examination of excavated materials reveals that they have been unearthed in such a way that they appear to have been discarded in the back of the store, and kiln tools and products are sometimes found attached to them. It is believed that these items were transported in batches from kilns in various regions and were divided into saleable and non-saleable items according to the store's discerning eye. Momoyama Pottery thus passed into the hands of connoisseurs such as feudal lords and tea masters of the time.

And in recent years, "Momoyama Pottery" is attracting the attention of contemporary artists. They have been inspired by "Momoyama Pottery" to create new works of art.

Thus, the history of "Momoyama Pottery" related to Sanjo Dori has influenced many people and contributed to the creation of new art forms even today.

It represents the streetscape at the beginning of the Edo period.
(Donge-in (Red solid line) Setomono-cho (red dashed line))

This map depicts Kyoto in the Edo period. It is believed to have been published approximately from 1641 to 1652, succeeding “Toki,” which is said to be the oldest extant map of an Edo-period city.

Do you notice where “Donge-in” and "Setomono-cho” are located?

When you go left from "Sanjo Bridge" on the right side of the screen, you will see the name of the area followed by "Yanaginoshita-cho” and "Benkei Ishi Machi". It is clear that the area was located almost in the center of Kyoto, on the extension of the Tokaido Highway, a major transportation artery.

Donge-in is where "Tanke-in (たんけゐん)” is written. In the map, black color seems to indicate storefronts, etc., so apparently such buildings were located in the area where the left side and the lower side of the cloudy house are painted in black.

Material excavated from the site of Donge-in (clay figure)
Edo Period, owned by The Museum of Kyoto

Material excavated from the site of Donge-in (burnt tile)
Edo Period, owned by The Museum of Kyoto

The photo shows burnet tiles and clay figures excavated from the ruins of Donge-in

According to Hon Rakuchu Rakugai Zu, drawn in the late Muromachi period, Donge-in was not roofed with tiles like ordinary temples, but with shingles in the style of an aristocratic residence, conveying the atmosphere of a prestigious nun temple. However, tile-roofed buildings can be seen inside the gate, so the excavated tiles may have been part of such roof tiles. Since its construction, the temple has suffered several fires, including the great fire of the Hamaguri Gate Incident, and burnt tiles have been unearthed.

Since a large number of relatively large clay figures of foxes have been found in excavations, it is believed that a hall dedicated to the Inari Goddess existed in the temple site.

Koban in the Genbun period (1736-1818), owned by The Museum of Kyoto

Bone ware in the shape of spatula, Edo period, owned by The Museum of Kyoto
The left side is thought to be a toothbrush handle.

Small clay Buddha, Edo period (1649), owned by The Museum of Kyoto

The photographs show koban, boneware, ceramics, and clay small Buddhist statues excavated from the site of Donge-in and store buildings. The items were excavated from the site of supposedly Donge-in, but as the Edo period illustration suggests, there were also storefronts in the area, and many of these people's daily necessities were also included.

In addition to Kyoto, the most frequently excavated items are ceramics and porcelain believed to have been produced in Mino, Seto, Karatsu, Bizen, Shigaraki, and Tanba. Other items actually used by people at the time were also unearthed, including a baked salt jar used to bake coarse salt to remove its bitterness and produce refined salt, clay masks thought to be toys, an ink stone made in Omi (Shiga Prefecture), a bone book, a clay small Buddha, and a rare example of a koban (cast between Genbun and Bunsei Period).

In addition to ceramics from a variety of sources, baked salt jars from Sakai-minato (Nishi-Minato Village, Sakai City), , an ink stone from Omi, and a koban with 17 stamps that were struck each time it passed through a money changer reveal the active distribution of these items.

The image shows Donge-in’s neighborhood during the Edo period.

The names of Sanjo Dori and Donge-in are seen in the center of the drawing. However, when we look at Donge-in (gray in the center), the area along Sanjo Dori is painted yellow, and it seems that storefronts were formed in the area facing the street.

Local magazines and guides show many stores selling rope were found in Higashi-katamachi and Kinoshita-cho, Kurumaya-cho had many transportation services (shashaku), Sasaya-cho and Hishiya-choi had wholesale dealers, and Mugiyamachi and Umechu-cho had many paper stores.

Each town was different, and it is clear that people from a wide variety of occupations lived and worked in the area, making it a vibrant place to live.

However, it seems that it was a time of many difficulties for Donge-in, beginning with the burning of the temple in 1603, followed by the damage to the reclaimed land caused by the Great Kyoto Earthquake of July 1830. The temple declined and was restored with each disaster, but it was burnt down in the Hamaguri Gate Incident in 1864. After the Meiji Restoration, the temple was rebuilt at its current location.

Kyoto in the Edo period has a history of being hit by large-scale fires on numerous occasions.

Unlike Edo, where "fire and fighting were the flower of Edo”, the citizens of Kyoto were careful not to cause a fire. However, Kyoto was not entirely free of fires. In Kyoto's busy urban areas, fires sometimes caused widespread catastrophes.

In 1986, excavations were conducted in Higashikatamachi, Sanjo-agaru, Takakura Dori, where The Museum of Kyoto was built. The construction site was the site of the late Heian Period palace of Takakura Prince Nichihito, and was the precincts of Tsugenji Donge-in from the Muromachi Period to the Edo Period.

During the survey, many remains and artifacts dating from the late Heian period to the Edo period were discovered, but of particular interest was a large moat that doubled in a north-south direction along Takakura Dori. It is assumed that this moat was on the east side of a temple in the Edo period. The lower moat was approximately 6 meters wide and 3 meters deep, with a large extension of approximately 50 meters. The moat was filled with a large amount of charcoal ashes and relics discarded in the cleanup of the fire, indicating that the area suffered from a major fire.

The Great Fire of Tenmei (1788), one of the largest disasters in Kyoto's history, and the preceding Great Fire of Hoei (1708) are said to be examples of such large fires. These fires were so large that they consumed a large portion of the urban area of Kyoto, and their impact was severe

The Hamaguri Gate Rebellion was a battle that took place in 1864 between the Choshu clan, the Aizu clan, the Satsuma clan, and other clans. It is so named because the battle took place near the Hamaguri-gomon (Hamaguri Gate) of the Kyoto Imperial Palace (Kyoto Gyoen).

The city was immediately engulfed in flames as the central area of Kyoto became the scene of a fierce battle. It was one of the largest fires in the city's history, and it devastated most of downtown Kyoto, including Sanjo Dori.

Excavations were carried out in 1986 at the construction site of The Museum of Kyoto. This site was the site of the late Heian Period palace of Takakura Prince Mochihito and also the precincts of Tsugen-ji’s Donge-in). These researches revealed a large moat from the Edo Period that was filled with charcoal ashes and artifacts.

These findings indicate that post-fire waste was dumped into the moat, and is thought to be the remains of the particularly large fire in the Hamaguri Gate Rebellion in 1864.

However, the destruction of downtown Kyoto also marked a pivotal point in the city's modern history. Following the recovery from the fire, a series of Western-style buildings were constructed along Sanjo Dori during the Meiji period, establishing it as Kyoto's main street. Western-style architecture, typified by red bricks, brought new life to the landscape and culture of the area.