Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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Clean-up at the Aum Shinrikyo Subway
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Senso-ji Temple
Moments in History
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Founding of
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The Long-Sleeves Fire
Senso-ji Temple
Discovered by two fishermen
in their nets in 628, the golden
image of the goddess Kannon
was enshrined at the site of
present-day Senso-ji. The temple
has been rebuilt several times,
and after air raids in 1945, a rep-
lica was put up in ferro-concrete.
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Ota Dokan's Fort
In 1657 priests at Hommyo-ji
Temple in Hongo tried to burn a
kimono worn by a lovelorn girl
who died shortly after putting it
on. A gust of wind tore it away,
starting fresh fires that claimed
the lives of over 100,000 people.
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47 Ronin Incident
In 1701 Lord Asano was
ordered to commit ritual suicide
for drawing his sword at court.
His retainers, who had become
ronin
, or masterless samurai,
avenged Asano's death by killing
his opponent, Lord Kira, and plac-
ing his decapitated head on their
master's grave. The act led the
authorities to order the 47 loyal
retainers to commit suicide.
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Perry's “Black Ships”
The Musashino Plain was
developed into a martial domain
with the arrival of Ota Dokan,
a minor feudal lord, in 1456.
Dokan's fortress was built on a
site named Edo, meaning
“estuary mouth.” A statue of the
city founder stands at the Tokyo
International Forum in Yurakucho.
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Founding of Edo
The development of
Edo village into Japan's
de-facto military capital began
with the shogun Tokugawa
Ieyasu's arrival in 1603. The
land was reclaimed, water
courses expanded, residences
built, and a massive citadel,
the Edo Castle, was erected.
On July 8, 1853, Commodore
Matthew Galbraith Perry sailed
four heavily armed ships into
Edo Bay, to open Japan to dip-
lomatic and trade relations. The
“black ships” were a display of
superior Western technology, a
reminder of the progress that
had bypassed the country.
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Great Kanto
Earthquake
At 11:58am on
September 1, 1923,
as people were
preparing lunch on
charcoal braziers
and gas burners,
an earthquake mea-
suring 7.9 on the
An artistic impression of Commodore Perry's “black ships”
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Preceding pages
Azaleas in bloom, Ome Garden
