Kon‘yachō Dyers’ Quarter in Kanda

Narrow strips of cloth in a variety of blues hang from wooden frames to dry and blow like banners in the wind. They are the work of indigo dyers, most likely destined to be cut into towels, tenugui, which men tie around their heads during autumn festivals. Hiroshige positions us in Kon’ya-chō, literally blue stores quarter, a street dominated by professional dyers in Kanda, a neighborhood in Edo (present-day Tokyo) that was home to many craftsmen. In pre-modern times, it was common for artisans to cluster by trade, allowing for shared access to resources and some collective bargaining power when setting values on their wares.