Meisho

With the development of woodblock printing and newer styles of tourism during the Edo period, the term came to denote a wider range of places of interest.

Used in conjunction with utamakura, meisho add layers of allusion to poetry and literary and dramatic works which would not otherwise be present.

In addition to being referenced in poetry and literature, meisho very often make appearances in Noh, kabuki, and jōruri theatre, and in ukiyo-e and other visual art forms.

The protagonist of the monogatari, having been exiled from Kyoto, finds his way to the Sumidagawa in what is today Tokyo; at a particular point in the river, he spots a particular type of plovers which he has not seen before.

Once the Tokugawa shogunate was established at Edo in 1603, this spot on the river where the birds were said to be found became a very popular site for restaurants and other forms of entertainment.