Episode 259 – The City that Never Sleeps, Part 2

October 6, 2018

This week: the shogun’s city becomes the emperor’s, as Edo transforms into Tokyo.

Sources

Mansfield, Steven. Tokyo: A Biography.

McClain, James, ed. Edo and Paris.

Seidensticker, Edward. Tokyo from Edo to Showa 1867-1989

Images

A model of a typical chonin (townsman) neighborhood.
Wikipedia has this handy map to give you an idea of what sections of Tokyo are considered Shitamachi and which are Yamanote. But the two terms don’t really have a precise definition.
The old Kuroda family yashiki in 1870, when it was taken over by Japan’s foreign ministry.
The justice ministry in 1910. A good example of European-style architecture in Kasumigaseki.
Ginza neighborhood, c. 1910. Note that many of the homes are still wooden construction and fairly close together, as had been the case during the Edo period.
The Rokumeikan, or Deer Cry Pavilion.