Toward the end of the Meiji era, the Ara-kawa was manually diverted to prevent flooding, as the Imperial Palace in Chiyoda is nearby.

[3][4] Sandra Andacht wrote in 1987, "Sumida gawa wares have found great popularity with collectors, dealers and investors.

The motifs conform to the general Western concepts of what Oriental designs are expected to depict; writhing dragons, Buddhist disciples, mythological and legendary beings and creatures.

It was recreated by the Heisei Nakamura-za in the Lincoln Center Festival in New York in the summer of 2007, with Nakamura Kanzaburō XVIII leading the cast.

See, for example, the opening lines of "Records of a Weather Exposed Skeleton," published in The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches (Penguin Classics, 1967).