With Ryogoku Bridge and the busy Ryogoku Hirokoji ("Broad Street ") in the background, this picture shows girls playing shuttlecocks and women relaxing at a tea-shop in the foreground. Ryogoku Hirokoji was, as its name suggests, a street that was deliberately widened to help prevent fires. It was always bustling with makeshift tea-stalls and show tents (the tall thin structures in the background). And when New Year came around it was a popular meeting place for people dressed in the manner shown here.