How Disasters Made the Modern City of Tokyo

Abstract

A variety of Western technologies were introduced to Japan after the opening of the country’s ports in 1859. These included newly developed technologies as well as technologies that had been used for centuries, such as brick architecture. The new regime introduced the country’s first experiment in building a fire-resistant cityscape of brick following a large fire in 1872. The government also put imported Western systems of policing and sanitation in place, but it was the modern piped water system introduced by the City of Tokyo that had the greatest impact. A massive flood in Tokyo in 1910 spurred the national project to channel and reinforce waterways. In the middle of this project, the capital was hit in 1923 by the Great Kantō Earthquake, which burned down the majority of the city. Post-earthquake reconstruction brought reinforced concrete buildings to the center city. Streets were widened and regularized. In the meantime, the waterway improvement project was completed, encouraging urbanization of districts to the north and east of the city. This, in turn, resulted in expansion of the administrative area in 1932 to incorporate all of the area of Tokyo’s present 23 wards. In this way, efforts to overcome natural disasters with new technology transformed Tokyo’s cityscape, changed the city’s boundaries, and had a significant effect on local government and municipal autonomy. This essay examines the ways in which Tokyo’s modern development was determined by technological responses to natural disaster.