Edo College Fence

Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo.

Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogunate. Edo grew to become one of the largest cities in the world under the Tokugawa.
After the Meiji Restoration in 1868 the Meiji government renamed Edo as ''Tokyo'' (, "Eastern Capital") and relocated the Emperor from the historic capital of Kyoto to the city. The era of Tokugawa rule in Japan from 1603 to 1868 is known eponymously as the Edo period.

History

Before Tokugawa

Before the 10th century, there is no mention of Edo in historical records, but for a few settlements in the area. Edo first appears in the Azuma Kagami chronicles, that name for the area being probably used since the second half of the Heian period. Its development started in late 11th century with a branch of the called the , coming from the banks of the then-Iruma River, present day upstream of Arakawa river. A descendant of the head of the Chichibu clan settled in the area and took the name , likely based on the name used for the place, and founded the Edo clan. Shigetsugu built a fortified residence, probably around the tip of the Musashino terrace, which would become the Edo castle. Shigetsugu's son, , took the Taira's side against Minamoto no Yoritomo in 1180 but eventually surrendered to Minamoto and became a gokenin for the Kamakura shogunate. At the fall of the shogunate in the 14th century, the Edo clan took the side of the Southern court, and its influence declined during the Muromachi period.

In 1456, a vassal of the Ōgigayatsu branch of the Uesugi clan, started to build a castle on the former fortified residence of the Edo clan and took the name Ōta Dōkan. Dōkan lived in this castle until his assassination in 1486. Under Dōkan, with good water connections to Kamakura, Odawara and other parts of Kanto and the country, Edo expanded in a jokamachi, with the castle bordering a cove opening into Edo Bay (current Hibiya Park) and the town developing along the Hirakawa River that was flowing into the cove, as well as the stretch of land on the eastern side of the cove (roughly where current Tokyo Station is) called . Some priests and scholars fleeing Kyoto after the Ōnin War came to Edo during that period.

After the death of Dōkan, the castle became one of strongholds of the Uesugi clan, which fell to the Later Hōjō clan at the battle of Takanawahara in 1524, during the expansion of their rule over the Kantō area. When the Hōjō clan was finally defeated by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1590, the Kanto area was given to rule to Toyotomi's senior officer Tokugawa Ieyasu, who took his residence in Edo.

Tokugawa era

Tokugawa Ieyasu emerged as the paramount warlord of the Sengoku period following his victory at the Battle of Sekigahara in October 1600. He formally founded the Tokugawa shogunate in 1603 and established his headquarters at Edo Castle. Edo became the center of political power and ''de facto'' capital of Japan, although the historic capital of Kyoto remained the ''de jure'' capital as the seat of the emperor. Edo transformed from a fishing village in Musashi Province in 1457 into the largest metropolis in the world with an estimated population of 1,000,000 by 1721.
Sansom, George. ''A History of Japan: 1615–1867'', p. 114.
Edo was repeatedly and regularly devastated by fires, the Great fire of Meireki in 1657 being the most disastrous, with an estimated 100,000 victims and a vast portion of the city completely burnt. At the time, the population of Edo was around 300,000, and the impact of the fire was tremendous. The fire destroyed the central keep of Edo Castle, which was never rebuilt, and it influenced the urban planning afterwards to make the city more resilient with many empty areas to break spreading fires and wider streets. Reconstruction efforts expanded the city east of the Sumida River, and some ''daimyō'' residences were relocated to give more space to the city, especially in the direct vicinity of the shogun's residence, giving birth to a large green space beside the castle, present-day Fukiage gardens of the Imperial Palace. During the Edo period, there were about 100 major fires mostly begun by accident and often quickly escalating and spreading through neighborhoods of wooden ''nagaya'' which were heated with charcoal fires.

In 1868, the Tokugawa shogunate was overthrown in the Meiji Restoration by supporters of Emperor Meiji and his Imperial Court in Kyoto, ending Edo's status as the ''de facto'' capital of Japan. However, the new Meiji government soon renamed Edo to ''Tōkyō'' (東京, "Eastern Capital") and the city became the formal capital of Japan when the emperor moved his residence to the city.

Urbanism

Very quickly after its inception, the shogunate undertook major works in Edo that drastically changed the topography of the area, notably under the nationwide program of major civil works involving the now pacified ''daimyō'' workforce. The Hibiya cove facing the castle was soon filled after the arrival of Ieyasu, the Hirakawa river was diverted, and several protective moats and logistical canals were dug (including the Kanda river), to limit the risks of flooding. Landfill works on the bay began, with several areas reclaimed during the duration of the shogunate (notably the Tsukiji area). East of the city and of the Sumida River, a massive network of canals was dug.

Fresh water was a major issue, as direct wells would provide brackish water because of the location of the city over an estuary. The few fresh water ponds of the city were put to use, and a network of canals and underground wooden pipes bringing freshwater from the western side of the city and the Tama River was built. Some of this infrastructure was used until the 20th century.

General layout of the city

The city was laid out as a castle town around Edo Castle, which was positioned at the tip of the Musashino terrace. The area in the immediate proximity of the castle consisted of samurai and ''daimyō'' residences, whose families lived in Edo as part of the ''sankin-kōtai'' system; the ''daimyō'' made journeys in alternating years to Edo and used the residences for their entourages. The location of each residence was carefully attributed depending on their position as ''tozama'', ''shinpan'' or ''fudai''. It was this extensive organization of the city for the samurai class which defined the character of Edo, particularly in contrast to the two major cities of Kyoto and Osaka, neither of which were ruled by a ''daimyō'' or had a significant samurai population. Kyoto's character was defined by the Imperial Court, the court nobles, its Buddhist temples and its history; Osaka was the country's commercial center, dominated by the ''chōnin'' or the merchant class. On the contrary, the samurai and ''daimyō'' residences occupied up to 70% of the area of Edo. On the east and northeast sides of the castle lived the including the ''chōnin'' in a much more densely populated area than the samurai class area, organized in a series of gated communities called ''machi'' (町, "town" or "village"). This area, Shitamachi (下町, "lower town" or "lower towns"), was the center of urban and merchant culture. Shomin also lived along the main roads leading in and out of the city. The Sumida River, then called the Great River (大川, ''Ōkawa''), ran on the eastern side of the city. The shogunate's official rice-storage warehouses and other official buildings were located here.

The marked the center of the city's commercial center and the starting point of the gokaidō (thus making it the de facto "center of the country"). Fishermen, craftsmen and other producers and retailers operated here. Shippers managed ships known as ''tarubune'' to and from Osaka and other cities, bringing goods into the city or transferring them from sea routes to river barges or land routes.

The northeastern corner of the city was considered dangerous in the traditional ''onmyōdō'' cosmology and was protected from evil by a number of temples including Sensō-ji and Kan'ei-ji, one of the two tutelary Bodaiji temples of the Tokugawa. A path and a canal, a short distance north of Sensō-ji, extended west from the Sumida riverbank leading along the northern edge of the city to the Yoshiwara pleasure district. Previously located near Ningyōchō, the district was rebuilt in this more remote location after the great fire of Meireki. Danzaemon, the hereditary position head of ''eta,'' or outcasts, who performed "unclean" works in the city resided nearby.

Temples and shrines occupied roughly 15% of the surface of the city, equivalent to the living areas of the townspeople, with however an average of 1/10th of its population. Temples and shrines were spread out over the city. Besides the large concentration in the northeast side to protect the city, the second Bodaiji of the Tokugawa, Zōjō-ji occupied a large area south of the castle.

Housing

Military caste

The samurai and ''daimyōs'' residences varied dramatically in size depending on their status. Some daimyōs could have several residences in Edo. The , was the main residence while the lord was in Edo and was used for official duties. It was not necessarily the largest of his residences, but the most convenient to commute to the castle. It was an important upper residence for the daimyō, similar to his home residence, and required enormous expenses to maintain his formality.
The Upper Residence of Edo is also served as a political window connecting the shogunate and the clan. Communications from the shogunate were communicated to the clan residence, and then from the clan residence to the home country. On the other hand, when contacting the shogunate from home, it was also communicated via the upper residence of edo. In addition, the interior of the upper residence of Edo was placed outside the control of the shogunate, and even if criminals fled into the residence of Edo, the shogunate did not exercise its investigative powers. The , a bit further from the castle, could house the heir of the lord, his servants from his fief when he was in Edo for the sankin-kotai, or be a hiding residence if needed. The , if there was any, was on the outskirts of town, more of a pleasure retreat with gardens. The lower residence could also be used as a retreat for the lord if a fire had devastated the city. Some of the powerful ''daimyōs'' residences occupied vast grounds of several dozens of hectares.

Shonin

In a strict sense of the word, ''chōnin'' were only the townspeople who owned their residence, which was actually a minority. The ''shonin'' population mainly lived in semi-collective housings called , multi-rooms wooden dwellings, organized in enclosed , with communal facilities, such as wells connected to the city's fresh water distribution system, garbage collection area and communal bathrooms. A typical ''machi'' was of rectangular shape and could have a population of several hundred.

The ''machi'' had curfew for the night with closing and guarded gates called opening on the in the ''machi''. Two floor buildings and larger shops, reserved to the higher-ranking members of the society, were facing the main street. A ''machi'' would typically follow a grid pattern and smaller streets, , were opening on the main street, also with (sometimes) two-floor buildings, shop on the first floor, living quarter on the second floor, for the more well-off residents. Very narrow streets accessible through small gates called , would enter deeper inside the ''machi'', where single floor ''nagayas'', the were located. Rentals and smaller rooms for lower ranked ''shonin'' were located in those back housings.

Edo was nicknamed the , depicting the large number and diversity of those communities, but the actual number was closer to 1,700 by the 18th century.

Government and administration

Edo's municipal government was under the responsibility of the ''rōjū'', the senior officials which oversaw the entire ''bakufu'' – the government of the Tokugawa shogunate. The administrative definition of Edo was called .

The '' Kanjō-bugyō'' (finance commissioners) were responsible for the financial matters of the shogunate, whereas the ''Jisha-Bugyō'' handled matters related to shrines and temples. The were ''samurai'' (at the very beginning of the shogunate daimyōs, later hatamoto) officials appointed to keep the order in the city, with the word designating both the heading magistrate, the magistrature and its organization. They were in charge of Edo's day-to-day administration, combining the role of police, judge and fire brigade. There were two offices, the South Machi-Bugyō and the North Machi-Bugyō, which had the same geographical jurisdiction in spite of their name but rotated roles on a monthly basis. Despite their extensive responsibilities, the teams of the Machi-Bugyō were rather small, with 2 offices of 125 people each. The Machi-Bugyō did not have jurisdiction over the samurai residential areas, which remained under the shogunate direct rule. The geographical jurisdiction of the Machi-Bugyō did not exactly coincide with the Gofunai, creating some complexity on the handling on the matters of the city.
The Machi-bugyō oversaw the numerous Machi where shonin lived through representatives called . Each Machi had a Machi leader called , who reported to a who himself was in charge of several Machis.

See also

* Edo society
* Fires in Edo
* 1703 Genroku earthquake
* Edokko (native of Edo)
* History of Tokyo
* Iki (a Japanese aesthetic ideal)
* Asakusa

Notes

References

* Forbes, Andrew; Henley, David (2014). ''100 Famous Views of Edo''. Chiang Mai: Cognoscenti Books. ASIN: B00HR3RHUY
* Gordon, Andrew. (2003). ''A Modern History of Japan from Tokugawa Times to the Present.'' Oxford: Oxford University Press. / (cloth); /.
* Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1956). ''Kyoto: the Old Capital, 794–1869.'' Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society.
* Sansom, George. (1963). ''A History of Japan: 1615–1867''. Stanford: Stanford University Press. /.
* Akira Naito (Author), Kazuo Hozumi. ''Edo, the City that Became Tokyo: An Illustrated History''. Kodansha International, Tokyo (2003).
* Alternate spelling from 1911 ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' article.

External links

A Trip to Old Edo
*
Fukagawa Edo Museum

Map of Bushū Toshima District, Edo
from 1682

{{Authority control

Edo period
History of Tokyo
Populated places established in the 1450s
1457 establishments in Asia
1450s establishments in Japan
1868 disestablishments in Japan