Edo no hana kodomo asobi "Gobankumi-Shigumi" Bath Towel Set

Most of the Japanese buildings are made of wood, so the towns of Edo from the 17th century to the 19th century were often hit by big fires. At that time, destructive fire fighting was used to prevent the spread of fire by destroying the houses around the fire site. However, at the beginning, there was only a fire brigade organised by samurai who did not know the structure of the house, so it was difficult to destroy the house efficiently. In 1658, a fire brigade called "Machi-bikeshi" was formed by the townspeople in addition to the samurai. Most of the members of "Machi-bikeshi" were construction workers who specialised in working at high places called "Tobi", so they were able to efficiently destroy houses because they were familiar with the structure of houses. "Machi-bikeshi" consisted of three groups, "Kita-gumi," "Naka-gumi," and "Minami-gumi," in addition to "Iroha-gumi," which consisted of 48 groups. "Iroha-gumi" was in charge of the west from the Sumida River, and "Kitagumi", "Nakagumi", and "Minamigumi" were in charge of the east. Each group used "matoi" and "nobori" as symbols of the group. This design is based on Ukiyo-e from the National Diet Library in Japan. Around 1858, the nishiki-e of "Edo no Hana Kodomo asobi" drawn by Utagawa Yoshitora, an ukiyo-e artist, depicts a firefighter of "Gobankumi-Shigumi", a group of "Iroha-gumi". In the past, nishiki-e such as firefighters and bijin-ga were popular as souvenirs of the town of Edo. As you can see in this nishiki-e, most "hikeshi" have tattoos, and the dragon pattern, which has the meaning of calling rain and protecting itself from fire, was especially popular.