Tokyo in Depth - Tokyo - page 13

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immediately set to work correcting the
area's shortcomings by reclaiming land,
building a conduit for fresh water, and
constructing a castle surrounded by moats.
By 1603, Tokugawa had succeeded in
defeating every one of his rivals in a series
of brilliant battles, becoming shogun over
all of Japan. He declared the sleepy village
of Edo the seat of his shogunate govern-
ment, leaving the emperor intact but vir-
tually powerless in Kyoto. He then set
about expanding Edo Castle to make it the
most impressive castle in the land, sur-
rounding it with an ingenious system of
moats that radiated from the castle in a
great swirl, giving him access to the sea
and thwarting enemy attack.
THE EDO PERIOD
Edo grew quickly as the shogunate capital.
For greater protection, and to ensure that
no daimyo in the distant provinces could
grow strong enough to usurp the shogun's
power, the Tokugawa government ordered
every daimyo to reside in Edo for a pre-
scribed number of months every other
year, thus keeping the feudal lords under
the watchful eye of the shogunate. Fur-
thermore, all daimyo were required to
leave their families in Edo as permanent
residents, to serve as virtual hostages.
There were as many as 270 daimyo in
Japan in the 17th century, with each main-
taining several mansions in Edo for family

members and retainers, complete with
elaborate compounds and expansive land-
scaped gardens. Together with their samu-
rai, who made up almost half of Edo's
population in the 17th century, the
daimyo and their entourage must have
created quite a colorful sight on the dusty
streets of old Edo. By expending so much
time and money traveling back and forth
and maintaining residences in both the
provinces and Edo, a daimyo would have
been hard put to wage war against the
shogun.
To cater to the needs of the shogun,
daimyo, and their samurai retainers, mer-
chants and craftsmen from throughout
Japan swarmed to Edo. To accommodate
them, hills were leveled and marshes filled
in, creating what is now the Ginza, Shim-
bashi, and Nihombashi. By 1787, the
population had swelled to 1.3 million,
making Edo one of the largest cities in the
world. It was a city few outsiders were ever
permitted to see, however. Fearing the
spread of Western influence and Christi-
anity in Japan, not to mention daimyo
growing rich through international trade,
the Tokugawa shogunate adopted a policy
of complete isolation in 1633, slamming
Japan's doors to the outside world for
more than 200 years. The shogunate for-
bade foreigners to enter Japan and forbade
the Japanese to leave. Those who defied
the strict decrees paid with their lives. The

2

■ 1989 Emperor Hirohito dies
after a 63-year reign.
■ 1990 Hirohito's son, Akihito,
formally ascends the throne
and proclaims the new “Era
of Peace” (Heisei).
■ 1991 Tokyo's new city hall,
the Tokyo Metropolitan Gov-
ernment Office, designed
by Kenzo Tange, opens in
Shinjuku.
■ 1992 The worst recession
since World War II hits
Japan. The Diet (Japanese

parliament) approves use of
military forces for United
Nations peacekeeping
efforts.
■ 1993 Liberal Democratic
party loses election for the
first time since 1955. Ake-
bono, a Hawaiian, becomes
first non-Japanese to reach
sumo's highest rank of
yokozuna.
■ 1995 Japan's sense of secu-
rity is shaken by the Great
Hanshin Earthquake (and

the subsequent mishandling
of rescue aid), which flattens
the city of Kobe, and by the
sarin-gas attack upon Tokyo's
crowded commuter trains.
■ 1998 The XVIII Winter Olym-
pic Games are held in
Nagano.
■ 1999 A nuclear plant 113km
(70 miles) northeast of Tokyo
suffers Japan's worst nuclear
accident, exposing dozens to
radiation.

continues