The bridge was named Ryōgoku-bashi (“Two Provinces Bridge”) because it spanned the Sumida River, linking the provinces of Musashi and Shimōsa, and the surrounding district came to be called Ryōgoku. This area flourished as Edo’s foremost entertainment quarter, bustling day and night with spectacles, theater, street lectures, and rows of food stalls. In the Edo period, fireworks were especially famous here as a summer evening attraction by the bridge, drawing such great crowds that traffic often had to be regulated.