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Tenugui : Azabujuban Banba ー Azabujuban Horse Riding Grounds

Celebrate the Year of the Horse (uma) in 2026 with this zodiac tenugui. Based on the woodblock print “Azabu Jūban Banba”, created by Japanese-style painter Yumi Tanaka (active from the late Edo into the Meiji era), we have dyed the scene of the townscape of the time, and the life of horses and people, onto this tenugui.

The horse has been revered from ancient times as a sacred animal, while the zodiac sign “uma” symbolizes vitality, growth and forward movement, and is regarded as an auspicious sign. During the Edo period, horses played wide‑ranging roles including transport, agriculture, travel and ceremonial duties, and people lived alongside horses, cultivating a culture around them.

Here you’ll find the landscape of Azabu Jūban—where history and culture intersect—and the lives of the people and the horses of Edo. With the symbolic pattern of the zodiac sign, it is perfect as a New Year’s decoration or a greeting‑gift for the year. It is also recommended as a birthday present for those born in the Year of the Horse, a gift for lovers of history or city‑walks, or as an introduction to Japanese culture for overseas friends.

Yumi Tanaka

Born in Tenpō 10 (1839) in Yamashiro Province (now Kyoto Prefecture). A Japanese‐style painter active from the Meiji through early Showa era. In Meiji 17 (1884) he moved to Tokyo at the recommendation of Emperor Meiji and Sanjō Sanetomi, and as a court painter left behind many works connected with the Imperial Household.

History of Azabujuban Banba (Local historian Takayuki Iwata)

In the area near today’s Azabu-dōri and the Shin-Ichi-no-Hashi intersection (from Azabu Jūban 1-chōme to Higashi Azabu 3-chōme in Minato City), there once stood a banba—a horse riding ground—during the Edo period. This banba was relocated from Shiba Shinbaba (formerly located just north of the residence of the Satsuma Domain), and it came to be known as “Jūban Banba” based on the local name used by the surrounding community at the time.

Markets were held here three times a year, where Sendai horses were traded. It is also said that the hakama (pleated skirt-trousers) for horseback riding were first devised here, and these would later evolve into the Sendai Hakama, the prototype of modern men’s formal hakama.

The area around the Jūban Banba was once home to bakuro (horse traders), but as townhouses began to line the streets, the neighborhood grew. In the 14th year of Kyōhō (1729), with permission from the shogunate, the area was formally established as “Jūban Baba-chō.” This town continued for 140 years until 1869 (Meiji 2), when it was incorporated into Azabu Shinami-chō of the newly formed Azabu Ward, and the name “Azabu Jūban” temporarily disappeared.

However, 93 years later, in 1962 (Shōwa 37), due to a change in the residential address system, the name “Azabu Jūban” was restored once again.

Size：35cm × 90cm
100％ Cotton Made in Japan