Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Richter scale convulsed the city.
An estimated 100,000 people
were crushed or burned to
death, and 45 percent of the
buildings were destroyed. Few
traces of the past remained.
*
Tokyo Air Raids
Top 10 Famous
Tokyoites
!
Katsushika Hokusai
Woodblock artist Hokusai
(1760-1849) published 30,000
sketches and 500 books.
@
Natsumi Soseki
Regarded by many as
Japan's greatest writer, Soseki
(1867-1916) set several of his
novels in Tokyo.
£
Yukio Mishima
US raids on Tokyo during
WWII exacted a heavy toll on
civilian lives. Tokyo suffered 102
raids in all, the worst on the
night of March 9-10, 1945, when
over 300 B-29 bombers loaded
with oil, jellied gasoline, and
napalm, swooped over tightly
packed residential areas to the
east, killing between 80,000
and 100,000 civilians.
The controversial writer
(1925-70) completed his
tetralogy,
The Sea of Fertility
,
on the day of his death.
$
Junichiro Tanizaki
Tanizaki (1886-1965)
explored themes of sexuality,
Western modernity, and
materialism in his novels.
%
Nagai Kafu
A fine chronicler of the
Tokyo demi-monde, Kafu
(1879-1959) traced the trans-
formation of the city.
^
Ichiyo Higuchi
The face of the prodigious
writer Higuchi (1872-96), who
died from tuberculosis, graces
the ¥5,000 Japanese note.
&
Yasujiro Ozu
Controversial author Yukio Mishima
(
Suicide of Mishima
Legendary film director
Ozu (1903-63) described the
collapse of the Japanese
family in
Tokyo Story.
*
Akira Kurosawa
In 1970 author and right-
winger Yukio Mishima took over
an upstairs office at the Self-
Defense Headquarter and called
for the restoration of the empe-
ror. Having failed in his coup, he
committed ritual disembowel-
ment in the samurai tradition.
)
Aum Shinrikyo
Kurosawa (1910-98),
Japan's best-known film
auteur, has inspired Stephen
Spielberg and George Lucas.
(
Yoko Ono
Subway Attack
On March 20, 1995, members
of the death cult Aum Shinrikyo,
under orders from their leader,
Asahara Shoko, placed plastic
bags containing liquid sarin gas
on the floor of carriages on five
subway lines. Twelve passengers
died and hundreds were injured.
Ono (b. 1933) was a
reputed artist, musician, and
experimental filmmaker long
before she met John Lennon.
)
Ryuichi Sakamoto
Sakamoto (b. 1952), a proli-
fic composer, wrote the music
for Bertolucci's Oscar-winning
film,
The Last Emperor.
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