Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Taimeiken restaurant.
( 3271-2465;
www.tako.gr.jp/eng/museums_e/tokyo_e.html
;
5th fl,
1-12-10 Nihombashi, Chūō-ku; adult/child ¥200/100;
11am-5pm Mon-Sat;
Ginza Line to Nihom-
bashi, exit C5)
Understand
The Meiji Restoration
Following the shōgun (former military ruler) Tokugawa Ieyasu's decision to make Edo
his capital in 1603, the most transformative event in Tokyo history was the Meiji Res-
toration.
For 250 years the Tokugawa shōguns kept Japan almost entirely isolated. Then, in
1853, the black ships under the command of US Navy Commodore Matthew Perry
sailed into Tokyo Bay demanding that Japan open itself to foreign trade. Faced with
the Americans' superior weaponry, the antiquated Tokugawa regime was powerless.
The humiliating acquiescence that followed fanned existing flames of anti-govern-
ment sentiment, and a coalition of southern Japan
daimyō
(feudal lords) founded a
movement (and army) to restore the emperor to power. The shōgun stepped down in
1867 and in 1868, following months of civil war, the 16-year-old Emperor Meiji was
named head of state. Meiji moved the seat of imperial power from Kyoto to Edo, re-
naming the city Tokyo (Eastern Capital).
The Meiji Restoration had far-reaching social implications, as Japan opened up to
the world and began to adopt technology as well as political and social ideas from the
West. Marunouchi was established as the first business district in the modern sense,
and a culture of white-collar workers in suit and tie commuting by streetcar grew up
around it. Naturally, job opportunities - and the chance to join the emerging middle
class - drew migrants from all the provinces.
Eating
7
Tokyo Rāmen Street
$
RĀMEN
