「矢切の渡し」は、江戸時代初期、地元民専用に耕作や対岸の農地への移動手段と、日用品購入、寺社参拝などの目的のために、徳川幕府が設けた利根川水系河川15ヶ所の渡し場のうちのひとつで、幕府直轄の事業として運営されていました。明治にはいると、関所の廃止と陸運の発達、鉄道や主要幹線道路などに橋が出来て、各地で渡し船が廃止され、現在、東京近郊では唯一残る貴重な渡しです。運行は民営となり、明治時代から杉浦家が世襲制で代々運行を引き継いでいます。

"Yagiri no Watashi" (Yagiri Ferry) was set up in the early Edo period by the Tokugawa Shogunate which was one of the 15 ferry at the river of Tone River system, for the purpose of cultivating and moving to farmland on the opposite bank, purchasing daily necessities, and visiting temples and shrines. It was operated by the direct control of the Edo Shogunate. In the Meiji era, because the development of land transportation and bridges on railways and major highways, these ferry were abolished one after another. Currently, this ferry is the only one remains in the suburbs of Tokyo. The operation has been privatized, and the Sugiura family has taken over the operation from generation to generation under the hereditary system since the Meiji era.