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Edo was the political center of Japan under the [[Tokugawa shogunate]], and a major center of economic power and of developments in popular culture (e.g. [[publishing]], [[kabuki]], [[Yoshiwara|pleasure districts]]), along with [[Kyoto]] and [[Osaka]]. Edo rivaled [[Beijing]] for the honor of largest city in the world (by population) from the 18th into the 19th century; in [[1868]], Edo was renamed [[Tokyo]] as the imperial capital was moved there from Kyoto.

Edo was the political center of Japan under the [[Tokugawa shogunate]], and a major center of economic power and of developments in popular culture (e.g. [[publishing]], [[kabuki]], [[Yoshiwara|pleasure districts]]), along with [[Kyoto]] and [[Osaka]]. Edo rivaled [[Beijing]] for the honor of largest city in the world (by population) from the 18th into the 19th century; in [[1868]], Edo was renamed [[Tokyo]] as the imperial capital was moved there from Kyoto.

Due to the presence of the shogunate government, and the ''[[sankin kotai|sankin kôtai]]'' system (and the many [[daimyo yashiki|daimyo mansions]] in the city as a result), Edo was a very samurai-heavy city. Commoners accounted for roughly half of the city's population,<ref>Schirokauer, et al., ''A Brief History of Japanese Civilization'', Wadsworth Cengage (2013), 135.</ref> and were of enormous cultural and economic significance, but commoner spaces occupied a mere 20% of the urban area,<ref>Conant, Ellen (ed.). ''Nihonga: Transcending the Past''. The Saint Louis Art Museum, 1995. p16.</ref>, with ''daimyô'' mansions accounting for around 35%, and the rest of the samurai districts comprising another 35%, and containing as many as 20,000 homes.<ref>Miyazaki Katsumi 宮崎勝美, ''Daimyô yashiki to Edo iseki'' 大名屋敷と江戸遺跡 (Tokyo: Yamakawa shuppansha, 2008), 2.</ref> The remaining 10% was occupied mostly by temples and shrines.

Due to the presence of the shogunate government, and the ''[[sankin kotai|sankin kôtai]]'' system (and the many [[daimyo yashiki|daimyo mansions]] in the city as a result), Edo was a very samurai-heavy city. Commoners accounted for roughly half of the city's population,<ref>Schirokauer, et al., ''A Brief History of Japanese Civilization'', Wadsworth Cengage (2013), 135.</ref> and were of enormous cultural and economic significance, but commoner spaces occupied a mere 20% of the urban area,<ref>Conant, Ellen (ed.). ''Nihonga: Transcending the Past''. The Saint Louis Art Museum, 1995. p16.</ref>, with ''daimyô'' mansions accounting for around 35%, and the rest of the samurai districts comprising another 35%, and containing as many as 20,000 homes.<ref>Miyazaki Katsumi 宮崎勝美, ''Daimyô yashiki to Edo iseki'' 大名屋敷と江戸遺跡 (Tokyo: Yamakawa shuppansha, 2008), 2.</ref> The remaining 10% was occupied mostly by temples and shrines. As much as ten percent of the city's population were attendants or servants to samurai.<ref>Rebecca Corbett, ''Cultivating Femininity: Women and Tea Culture in Edo and Meiji Japan'', University of Hawaii Press (2018), 120.</ref>

==Geography==

==Geography==

[[File:Edo-model-rekihaku.jpg|right|thumb|450px|A model of a commoner section of Edo, with the fire watchtower visible at right]]

[[File:Edo-model-rekihaku.jpg|right|thumb|450px|A model of a commoner section of Edo, with the fire watchtower visible at right]]

[[File:Sensoji.JPG|right|thumb|320px|Nakamise-dôri, leading up to the ''Hôzômon'' (Treasure Storehouse Gate) and main hall, with the pagoda off to the left]]

[[File:Sensoji.JPG|right|thumb|320px|Nakamise-dôri, leading up to the ''Hôzômon'' (Treasure Storehouse Gate) and main hall, with the pagoda off to the left]]

The city was organized around [[Edo castle]], more formally known as Chiyoda castle, which had been the chief headquarters of [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]] since [[1590]]. The city overall was organized roughly in a spiral, and in accordance with traditional geomancy. Thirty-six ''masugata'' (square enclosure) gates<ref>Takashi Fujitani, ''Splendid Monarchy'', University of California Press (1996), 132.</ref> controlled access to the city, and different segments of society were restricted, to some extent, to different parts of the city. Sections of the northeastern part of the city were inhabited by shogunal vassals, while many lower-ranking samurai lived in a different area. Parts of the southwestern section of the city were merchant and artisan districts, divided into hundreds of ''chô'' or ''machi'' within which townspeople (''[[chonin|chônin]]'') were organized, to a certain extent, according to their trades.<ref>Lu, David. ''Japan: A Documentary History''. vol. 1. M.E. Sharpe, 2005. p215.</ref> While the city was originally divided into some 300 ''chô'', by the mid-18th century, it had grown to encompass over 1700 ''chô''.<ref>Gallery labels, National Museum of Japanese History (Rekihaku).[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/12591019223/sizes/l]</ref> Many of these ''chô'' were ''ryô-gawa machi'', or "both-sides towns," meaning that a single ''chô'' encompassed a certain number of structures on both sides of a main street. Individual properties generally ran about 40 meters back from the street, encompassing storefronts facing the streets, and behind them, homes, storehouses, communal spaces including wells, and garbage and toilet facilities. Each ''chô'' typically ran for one block, about 120 meters from one intersection to another, and included a gate and gatehouse (''kidoban''), a guard house (''jishinban''), and pipes from the central aqueduct for fresh water, along with a sewer system. Roughly one in ten ''chô'' had a watchtower, 10 ''ken'' (18.5m) tall, to help guard against fires; each guardhouse also had a lookout constructed on its roof.<ref>Gallery labels, "Fire Tower," National Museum of Japanese History.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/9649097525/in/dateposted-public/]</ref> Many other buildings, meanwhile, had large buckets on the roof which collected rainwater which could then be used to put out fires. The gates of each neighborhood were closed at night by a gatekeeper hired by the ''chô''; the guardhouse, meanwhile, was manned by one local resident of the ''chô'' and by a professional guardman, who between the two of them oversaw local ''chô'' administration and security.<ref>Gallery labels, [[Edo-Tokyo Museum]].</ref>

The city was organized around [[Edo castle]], more formally known as Chiyoda castle, which had been the chief headquarters of [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]] since [[1590]]. The city overall was organized roughly in a spiral, and in accordance with traditional geomancy. Thirty-six ''masugata'' (square enclosure) gates<ref>Takashi Fujitani, ''Splendid Monarchy'', University of California Press (1996), 132.</ref> controlled access to the city, and different segments of society were restricted, to some extent, to different parts of the city. Sections of the northeastern part of the city were inhabited by shogunal vassals, while many lower-ranking samurai lived in a different area. Parts of the southwestern section of the city were merchant and artisan districts, divided into hundreds of ''chô'' or ''machi'' within which townspeople (''[[chonin|chônin]]'') were organized, to a certain extent, according to their trades.<ref>Lu, David. ''Japan: A Documentary History''. vol. 1. M.E. Sharpe, 2005. p215.</ref> While the city was originally divided into some 300 ''chô'', by the mid-18th century, it had grown to encompass over 1700 ''chô''.<ref>Gallery labels, National Museum of Japanese History (Rekihaku).[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/12591019223/sizes/l]</ref> Many of these ''chô'' were ''ryô-gawa machi'', or "both-sides towns," meaning that a single ''chô'' encompassed a certain number of structures on both sides of a main street. Individual properties generally ran about 40 meters back from the street, encompassing storefronts facing the streets, and behind them, homes, storehouses, communal spaces including wells, and garbage and toilet facilities. Each ''chô'' typically ran for one block, about 120 meters from one intersection to another, and included a gate and gatehouse (''kidoban''), a guard house (''jishinban''), and pipes from the central aqueduct for fresh water, along with a sewer system. Roughly one in ten ''chô'' had a watchtower, 10 ''ken'' (18.5m) tall, to help guard against fires; each guardhouse also had a lookout constructed on its roof.<ref>Gallery labels, "Fire Tower," National Museum of Japanese History.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/9649097525/in/dateposted-public/]</ref> Many other buildings, meanwhile, had large buckets on the roof which collected rainwater which could then be used to put out fires. The gates of each neighborhood were closed at night by a gatekeeper hired by the ''chô''; the guardhouse, meanwhile, was manned by one local resident of the ''chô'' and by a professional guardman, who between the two of them oversaw local ''chô'' administration and security.<ref>Gallery labels, [[Edo-Tokyo Museum]].</ref> Some 900 additional guardhouses, known as ''[[tsuji banya]]'', or "intersection guardhouses," were operated by the shogunate or various ''daimyô'' or ''hatamoto'' households.<ref>Katô Takashi, "Governing Edo," in James McClain (ed.), ''Edo & Paris'', Cornell University Press (1994), 50-51.</ref>

Many of the commoner homes were ''munewari nagaya'' (split-roofed longhouses), long houses which extended to both sides of the block, but which were divided in half, such that one family lived in the half facing one street, and another family in the half facing the next street over. Each family's portion of the home was quite small, frequently only three by four meters, including a small earthen-floored ''doma'' (kitchen), lavatory, and then a single 2x4 meter or so [[tatami]] room in which the family ate, slept, and did all other home activities. There were typically no closets of any kind, and so bedding was typically simply folded up and piled in a corner during the day, while clothes were kept in a pile as well, or in a wicker basket or the like. These homes were built so close to one another that they were sometimes also referred to as ''yakeya'' (burning houses), since fires spread from one house to the next quite quickly and easily.<ref>Gallery labels, Edo-Tokyo Museum.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/11269357806/in/dateposted-public/]</ref>

Many of the commoner homes were ''munewari nagaya'' (split-roofed longhouses), long houses which extended to both sides of the block, but which were divided in half, such that one family lived in the half facing one street, and another family in the half facing the next street over. Each family's portion of the home was quite small, frequently only three by four meters, including a small earthen-floored ''doma'' (kitchen), lavatory, and then a single 2x4 meter or so [[tatami]] room in which the family ate, slept, and did all other home activities. There were typically no closets of any kind, and so bedding was typically simply folded up and piled in a corner during the day, while clothes were kept in a pile as well, or in a wicker basket or the like. These homes were built so close to one another that they were sometimes also referred to as ''yakeya'' (burning houses), since fires spread from one house to the next quite quickly and easily.<ref>Gallery labels, Edo-Tokyo Museum.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/11269357806/in/dateposted-public/]</ref>

Beyond the mere construction of the daimyô mansions themselves, this spurred considerable land reclamation projects and the like, which reshaped the landscape and expanded the city dramatically and rapidly. Very soon, the samurai population of the city alone exceeded 100,000. By the mid-18th century, the total population of the city broke one million, roughly the size of London and Paris combined; only Beijing, which also boasted a population around one million, had anywhere near this number of people.

Beyond the mere construction of the daimyô mansions themselves, this spurred considerable land reclamation projects and the like, which reshaped the landscape and expanded the city dramatically and rapidly. Very soon, the samurai population of the city alone exceeded 100,000. By the mid-18th century, the total population of the city broke one million, roughly the size of London and Paris combined; only Beijing, which also boasted a population around one million, had anywhere near this number of people.

Much of the city was destroyed in the [[1657]] [[Meireki Fire]], as it would be again by fires which swept quickly through the wood and paper landscape, ravaging it. But, reconstruction took place quickly and thoroughly.

Much of the city was destroyed in the [[1657]] [[Meireki Fire]], as it would be again and again by fires which swept quickly through the wood and paper landscape, ravaging it. But, reconstruction took place quickly and thoroughly, and after the Meireki Fire in particular, the city was dramatically reshaped in efforts to prevent fires from spreading as easily. Streets were widened, mud and plaster was applied to roofs, and firebreaks were created. Warrior residences, temples, and shrines previously located within the inner moats of Edo castle were moved outside of the innermost moats, and were replaced with a smaller number of less-densely-packed official residences. This reorganization played a major role in expanding and developing the city, leading previously peripheral areas such as Koishikawa, Asakusa, and Kobikichô to begin to develop into proper urban spaces, some centered on daimyô mansions, while others became thriving commoner areas. The [[Yoshiwara|Shin-Yoshiwara]] ("new Yoshiwara") pleasure district was moved to Asakusa from a location in Ningyôchô (near [[Nihonbashi]]), and the [[Ryogoku Bridge|Ryôgoku Bridge]] was constructed over the [[Sumida River]], leading for the development of thriving commoner districts in those areas.<ref>Gallery labels, "Expansion of Edo," Edo-Tokyo Museum.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/46301312465/sizes/l/]</ref>

The first coastal defenses at the mouth of Edo Bay were constructed in [[1810]], on the heels of the [[1808]] [[Phaeton Incident]] in [[Nagasaki]], and after coastal defense plans proposed by [[Matsudaira Sadanobu]] in the 1790s were scrapped in [[1795]]. Beginning in 1810, Sadanobu, in his position as ''daimyô'' of [[Shirakawa han]], was charged with overseeing the defense of the eastern approaches to the bay, while [[Matsudaira Katahiro]], lord of [[Aizu han]], guarded the west.<ref>Mitani Hiroshi, David Noble (trans.), ''Escape from Impasse'', International House of Japan (2006), 15.</ref>

The first coastal defenses at the mouth of Edo Bay were constructed in [[1810]], on the heels of the [[1808]] [[Phaeton Incident]] in [[Nagasaki]], and after coastal defense plans proposed by [[Matsudaira Sadanobu]] in the 1790s were scrapped in [[1795]]. Beginning in 1810, Sadanobu, in his position as ''daimyô'' of [[Shirakawa han]], was charged with overseeing the defense of the eastern approaches to the bay, while [[Matsudaira Katahiro]], lord of [[Aizu han]], guarded the west.<ref>Mitani Hiroshi, David Noble (trans.), ''Escape from Impasse'', International House of Japan (2006), 15.</ref>