[Connected Travelogue #78] Edo-Tokyo Museum Revenge Part 5: Edo and Tokyo

Last time it was practically a review of 'The Autobiography of Fukuzawa Yukichi' episode, but this time let's walk through the museum properly.

I suddenly posted an image of a mysterious earthen wall, but if you're wondering what this is, it is a section
“excavated from Edo-period landfill remains”.

After Ieyasu came to the Kanto region, until it was completed as Edo, the land was expanded by reclaiming lowlands, wetlands, and even the sea. This exhibit clarifies how Ieyasu went about reclaiming those lands.

Observing it, you can see that first piles were driven in, and bamboo was woven around the piles to prevent the earth and sand from flowing out. By repeating this structure endlessly, the land was gradually expanded.

What was created in this way was the city of one million, Edo.

And then, after the Restoration of Imperial Rule, Edo became the capital, Tokyo. However, this was by no means decided smoothly. Okubo Toshimichi of the new government had proposed a plan to


make Osaka the capital. In response, the shogunate retainer Maejima Hisoka
argued that Edo should be made the capital.

For Okubo Toshimichi, rather than saying "It absolutely has to be Osaka!", the nuance was more strongly, "We have to get the Emperor out of Kyoto no matter what!". As they were about to transform Japan into a new country, Kyoto was an environment

too unsuitable for reform. After Hideyoshi's death, the center of national administration moved to Edo, and
Kyoto was only becoming more desolate. It was decided that the country would be unified under the Emperor's power, but Kyoto was a bit tough... So, how about Osaka?
was the reasoning.

However, Maejima Hisoka's proposal to make Edo the capital was based on solid reasons. Maejima presented a very well-organized opinion that Edo should be the capital, taking into account issues of urban landscape, future transportation, its relative position within all of Japan, and the convenience of transport and ports. Edo was a city that boasted a

population of one million, surpassing even Paris at the time. He argued that it would not do to have Edo, which had become such a city,
suffer a relocation of capital functions and face the possibility of ruin.

Due to the subsequent Battle of Toba-Fushimi, where Osaka Castle burned down, and the fact that Edo Castle was surrendered without a fight, the movement to make Edo the capital became established.

Then, in July of the first year of Meiji, by the Edict on the Establishment of Tokyo, Edo came to be called Tokyo.

The Emperor also moved from Kyoto to Tokyo, and except for one return to Kyoto, he has lived in Tokyo ever since.

The Edo period, which could be said to have constrained development through all sorts of regulations for a long time, came to an end, and modernization proceeded rapidly.

Of course, this rapid modernization, too, should not be applied to rural areas as it is.Just as I said regarding literacy rates, this is something that must be kept in mind.

However, Japan was steadily changing, centered on its urban areas.

In 1890, the Ryounkaku was built in Asakusa. At the time of its opening, it was called the "
Eiffel Tower of Japan" and was apparently bustling with tourists. (The Eiffel Tower was built one year earlier in 1889.)

Inside the Ryounkaku, there were shops selling goods from all over the world and rest areas, and telescopes were installed on the 11th and 12th floors.

At the time, it seems that advanced nations were competing for the height of high-rise buildings. In 1884, the
Washington Monument was completed in Washington D.C., becoming the tallest structure in the world. Its height was 169m. Incidentally, the Ryounkaku was

52m tall. It probably wasn't built to compete in height, but the gap with advanced nations was still significant.

The Eiffel Tower, by the way, boasts a height of 312m. For something built five years after the 169m Washington Monument, it was suddenly too tall. After that, the Eiffel Tower held the title of the world's tallest until the Chrysler Building was built in the United States in 1930.

Although the Ryounkaku faced financial difficulties toward the end of the Meiji period, it served as a tourist attraction in Tokyo for a long time, with elevators being installed (and later stopped).

But in 1923, a great earthquake struck Tokyo.

The Ryounkaku collapsed.

The Great Kanto Earthquake turned Tokyo into scorched earth.

In Asakusa Ward, 96% was destroyed. The Ryounkaku collapsed from the 8th floor up due to the earthquake, and the remaining part was later

demolished by the army using explosives.

People built shacks and survived resiliently even after the disaster, but the housing, which had poor sanitary conditions and no resistance to fire, also harbored various dangers.

The earthquake occurred during the recession following World War I, which was the worst possible timing, but by prioritizing the economy over reconstruction, they managed to overcome it, and Tokyo gradually achieved regeneration.

It overcame the subsequent World War II as well, and now it has become a city where one cannot even imagine its former appearance.

And time flows on...

The Famicom was born...

The Kogal culture emerged...

Train Man became popular...

And finally...

It ends with cosplay.

The Edo-Tokyo Museum, what did you think?

What I introduced in this travelogue is only a small part, but it covers the long history since Edo, the transition of culture, disasters, and the efforts of the people.
It was a wonderful museum where you can learn a great deal about all of those things.

It was a wonderful museum where you can learn a great deal about all of those things.

It is currently undergoing major renovations and is closed until 2025, but I highly recommend visiting once the construction is complete.

I am sure that after it reopens, it will be significantly powered up compared to how it is now.

The end of the exhibition might not be cosplay anymore, either.

When I left the station, my feet naturally headed toward the Imperial Palace.

Actually, this is my first time here.

If I had known it was this close to Tokyo Station, I should have come sooner.

Despite being in the center of Tokyo, there is an incredible sense of openness.

Only here is there a space left where absolutely no high-rise buildings exist.

All the things I learned today are coming to mind.

This was Edo Castle, many feudal lords gathered here, various incidents occurred, and after many things happened, the Emperor ended up coming from Kyoto...

I think the Imperial Palace is a place where so much important history has accumulated.

The scale of history is so massive that I'm starting to lose track of it all.

That said, I was able to see the museum safely, so I have no regrets left now.

...Well, time to head back to work.

Tokyo and Kanagawa.
It really was a great trip...

Next time ↓