Changes

[[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 over 300 ''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> 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 wells, and garbage and toilet facilities. Each ''chô'' typically 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>

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>