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→Building a Modern National Capital
The shift in attitude begun around 1883 towards desiring a modern national capital developed according to a coordinated plan, and with an impressive Imperial Palace at its center, reached a certain culmination in [[1889]]. In that year, the Imperial family took up residence in the [[Tokyo Imperial Palace]], which was completed the previous year after fires destroyed the previous palace (Edo castle) in [[1873]]. The Palace was officially designated an "Imperial Palace" (''kyûjô''), and the city, described for many years by foreign observers and Japanese alike as possessing an empty center, once more had a visible and monumental symbol of political power at its center. Parades and other events surrounding the celebration of the promulgation of the [[Meiji Constitution]] later that year are sometimes cited as the first major modern national ceremonies to be held in the streets of Tokyo. Celebrations of the thirtieth anniversary of the relocation of the capital, held in [[1898]], were another particularly notable event in the evolution of Tokyo's modern & national(ist) festivals.
The shift in attitude begun around 1883 towards desiring a modern national capital developed according to a coordinated plan, and with an impressive Imperial Palace at its center, reached a certain culmination in [[1889]]. In that year, the Imperial family took up residence in the [[Tokyo Imperial Palace]], which was completed the previous year after fires destroyed the previous palace (Edo castle) in [[1873]]. The Palace was officially designated an "Imperial Palace" (''kyûjô''), and the city, described for many years by foreign observers and Japanese alike as possessing an empty center, once more had a visible and monumental symbol of political power at its center. Parades and other events surrounding the celebration of the promulgation of the [[Meiji Constitution]] later that year are sometimes cited as the first major modern national ceremonies to be held in the streets of Tokyo. Celebrations of the thirtieth anniversary of the relocation of the capital, held in [[1898]], were another particularly notable event in the evolution of Tokyo's modern & national(ist) festivals.
The various obstacles to accessibility intentionally put into place by the Tokugawa shogunate were gradually removed over the course of the Meiji period, beginning as early as the late 1860s. Gates were torn down, and sections of moat, canals, and artificial riverways redirected, bridged over, or filled in, so that the people of the city could more easily travel across it, and could more easily gather to witness grand national spectacles. Plans by Yoshikawa Akimasa in the 1880s, mentioned above, certainly contributed to the reshaping of the city in this respect. Historian [[Takashi Fujitani]], however, writes that it was not until the [[Triumphal Military Review of April 1906|Imperial Military Review]] of April [[1906]] that certain changes he identifies as of particular significance took place. In that year, the government knocked down the palace's Babasaki Gate, filled in some sections of the moat, and expanded the Palace Plaza facing Nijûbashi to make that plaza even more accessible than ever before, to encourage and allow for massive public gatherings to witness grand events such as the upcoming Imperial Military Review. This came after dangerous bottlenecking at the Babasakimon and Sakuradamon palace gates caused considerable difficulties, and even loss of life as people tried to get in and out of the Palace Plaza during celebrations surrounding the [[promulgation of the Meiji Constitution]] in [[1889]] and victory parades held in [[1905]], thus leading the government to seek to open up the space. Of course, official parades and processions themselves could also now more easily move about the plaza, and in and out of the palace compound.<ref>Fujitani, 132-133.</ref>
The [[Akasaka Detached Palace]] and the Hyôkeikan of the Tokyo National Museum, key examples of a later phase of [[Meiji period architecture]], were completed in [[1909]].
The [[Akasaka Detached Palace]] and the Hyôkeikan of the Tokyo National Museum, key examples of a later phase of [[Meiji period architecture]], were completed in [[1909]].