II. Cityscape Guide (Part 1) Destination: Kabutocho in the Early Meiji Period

It Is often said that there is no sense of unity in the cityscape of Tokyo. When you enter a side street of the newly developed, large-scale labyrinthine commercial complex, you will find a small building that was built during the Showa period and seems to have been left behind the times. If you turn off the main road from the huge high-rise apartment building, you will find a block of small wooden houses with many flowerpots tightly lined up in front of their entrances. And always, somewhere, buildings are being demolished, the ground of vacant lots is exposed, and the sound of construction work echoes.

However, there is certainly a unique charm to a cityscape that is like a patchwork of the old and the new. In such a cityscape, different eras appear here and there, and the traces of history are hidden in layers. Here, the more you walk, the more you discover.

So, when did the creation of this Tokyo cityscape begin? Let me take you on a journey back to the turning point, the time when the name of the city was changed from Edo to Tokyo. This was the moment of the Meiji Restoration, when the feudal system of the shogunate and domains ended, and Japan began its step toward becoming a modern nation.

When thinking of the changes in the city brought about by the Meiji Restoration, the first thing that comes to mind is the brick streets of Ginza. We tend to evoke the glamorous image of the plush cityscape that emerged with the Meiji government’s call for civilization and enlightenment. In reality, however, Tokyo was quite run-down at the beginning of the Meiji period. It was because the rapid decline in the population of the samurai class had hollowed out the city.

The feudal lords, their retainers, and their families, freed from the obligation to change residence periodically, returned to their hometowns. The retainers of the shogun also moved to Shizuoka with the Tokugawa family. The samurai and their families, who made up about half of Edo’s population of over one million, left the city one after another. Those who had served the samurai families lost their jobs and merchants whose customers had been samurai families were also hard hit. According to The Meiji Restoration of Edo and Tokyo by Yuriko Yokoyama, Edo’s population of more than one million at the end of the Edo period dropped to just over 670,000 in less than a year after the name changed to Tokyo, a decrease of one-third.

In Edo, residential areas were strictly divided by class: samurai residences surrounded by walls, merchant’s quarters crowded with townhouses, and temple and shrine areas crowded with worshippers. In this way, a somewhat uniform townscape was maintained in each area. This can be seen in the few remaining photographs from the late Edo period.

In no time, the people disappeared from the vast samurai residential area, which occupied nearly 70% of the total residential area. The samurai residences that had lost their owners became abandoned houses overgrown with weeds. The people who came to the residence instead were the poor and needy as well as rowdy masterless samurai. To cope with the situation, the new government launched a policy of cultivating mulberry and tea leaves in 1869. At that time, raw silk (produced from the cocoons of silkworms fed on mulberry leaves) and tea leaves were the means of earning foreign currencies. To encourage their production, the government planned to convert the feudal lords’ residences into mulberry and tea fields. In fact, 1,106,770 tsubo (3,658,744 m2) were reclaimed. However, cultivation did not go as planned and was virtually ended in 1871 when the governor of Tokyo was replaced by Yuri Kimimasa.

After all these twists and turns, the Ginza Brick Street Project was proposed in the wake of the great Ginza fire of 1872. This project contributed to the prosperity of the area to the extent that the term “Gin-bura” (strolling around Ginza) was later coined. However, when the street was completed in 1877, the project was heavily criticized.

People were not used to handling this building material, and it caused construction defects. There were a lot of leaks that caused moisture and made the building uncomfortable to live in. In addition, the residents had to bear high construction costs. Although the buildings were completed under the government’s initiative, one-third of the units on the back streets were not purchased, leaving many vacant rooms. The detailed story was described in Tokyo’s Plan in the Meiji Period by Terunobu Fujimori. The new government originally intended to use Ginza as a springboard to transform a larger part of Tokyo into a modern cityscape but ended up changing only the area between Shinbashi and Ginza. From this point on, the priority of urban renewal was placed on fire prevention rather than westernization.

Issued in 1881, the Tokyo Fire Prevention Ordinance required that all houses and buildings facing major streets and canals in Nihonbashi, Kyobashi, and Kanda must be built with brick, stone, or traditional Japanese warehouse construction to prevent the spread of fire. Many people chose the warehouse style that they were familiar with. In a complete reversal of the Ginza Brick Street Project, the Ordinance acted as a catalyst for the creation of a cityscape of lined traditional warehouses between Kyobashi and Nihonbashi. Fujimori describes the landscape in the above-mentioned book as follows:

“In 1877, bright European-style streets with stucco walls were built in Ginza, and in 1887, dignified Japanese-style streets with black plaster walls were born. The brick streets that continued from Shinbashi and the warehouse streets from Nihonbashi meet at Kyobashi. As you cross the Kyobashi Bridge, you will undoubtedly see one of the fates of the urban landscape that Japan must accept in the modern times: the coexistence with things of different natures.”

Even before that time, it is likely that buildings of the new era and the old era existed side by side. However, I assume that the difference in nature was further accentuated by the introduction of the West, which is completely different from what existed before. This view may have been the first stitch in what Fujimori calls a patchwork cityscape.

While the newly completed brick streets were not always welcomed by the people, there was an area where new Western-style buildings were built one after another. This is the area along the Nihonbashi River stretching from Nihonbashi 1-chome to Kabutocho and Kayabacho. Ginza’s brick streets were the result of a government-led project. On the contrary, the cityscape of this area was the result of hot-blooded entrepreneurs moving into the area.

In the Edo period, in this area surrounded by waterways, samurai residences and merchant’s quarters were not strictly separated. This was very unusual. After crossing the Kaizoku Bridge ((2) in the map above) from the west bank of the Kaedegawa River ((1) Timber Riverbank), where freshly landed timber is lined up, a triangular area appears at the intersection of the Kaedegawa River (3) and the Nihonbashi River (4). It was the site of the residence of the Kaizoku (pirate) magistrate, Mukai Shogen, after whom the bridge was named. Later, it became the residence of the Makino family of the Tanabe domain, and from 1862, it became the residence of the Matsudaira family of the Nishio domain (5). On the opposite side was Sakamotocho, where townhouses were built in rows, as well as the residential district of the middle and small feudal lords. Along the Nihonbashi River, where the Yoroi boats came and went, was Minami-Kayabacho where the warehouses of salt and sake wholesalers stood side by side ((6) Kayaba Riverbank). To the north was the district of the residences of low-ranking officials of the shogunate.

This area is also known as the home of many people of culture, including the haiku poet Takarai Kikaku, the geographer Ino Tadataka, the Confucian scholar Ogyu Sorai, and the Japanese literary scholars Kamono Mabuchi and Murata Harumi. The modern Japanese economy was later born here not only because of the geographical advantage of good boat transportation, but also because of the cultural foundation that welcomed a diverse range of people.

Again, in the beginning, the movement was led by the government. When the land of the samurai residences was nationalized soon after the beginning of the Meiji period, the Commerce and Tax Agency (later the Trade Agency), which administered domestic and overseas trade, was established on the site of the Nishio domain’s residence. In addition, semi-public trading companies and exchange companies for financial transactions were established to promote commerce. However, these measures did not work, and the Agency and the companies were dissolved.

The seeds sown by the government were sprouted by the hands of entrepreneurs after 1871 when the site of the Nishio domain residence was sold to three wealthy merchant families, Mitsui, Shimada, and Ono (in 1875, the companies of Shimada and Ono went bankrupt, and Mitsui became the sole owner). The unnamed land was named Kabutocho after the Kabutozuka mound on the site of the Makino domain residence. The following year, a wooden bridge was built at the site of the Yoroi ferry by the three merchant families. It was named Yoroibashi.

Aiming to establish Japan’s first bank, the Mitsui-gumi Company concentrated its power in this place. In 1872, it completed the construction of a five-layer building combining Japanese and Western architectural styles, named Kaiunbashi Mitsui-gumi House, at the foot of the bridge, which was renamed Kaiunbashi Bridge from Kaizoku Bridge during the Meiji period. However, at the last minute, Mitsui-gumi was not allowed to establish a bank on its own. Japan’s first bank, named the First National Bank, was established through a public offering of shares. The ownership of the newly completed Mitsui-gumi House was transferred to the First National Bank, and the following year, Japan’s first bank opened here.

This striking five-layer building quickly became a new tourist attraction in Tokyo and was depicted in many woodblock prints. In addition, in 1878 the Tokyo Stock Exchange was established in the Western-style building that was the former Shimada-gumi’s company building. This attracted various banks, commercial groups, and companies of all sizes to this area.

In the 1870s to 1890s, the Kabutocho and Kayabacho areas were like an exhibition of Western-style architecture.

South of the main street of Nihonbashi, where carriages come and go, and at the foot of the Edo Bridge, there was a row of seven sturdy brick buildings with triangular roofs. Built in 1880, these were the warehouses of the Mitsubishi Mail Steamship Company, commonly called Nanatsugura (seven warehouses). Across the street was the Ekitei-ryo (Department of Communications, later renamed Ekitei-kyoku), known as the birthplace of the postal system in Japan. The two-story wooden building with Western-style decoration was designed by Tadahiro Hayashi, who also designed many government buildings.

Kaiunbashi Bridge, the entrance to Kabutocho, was very close from the Ekitei-ryo. The First National Bank building, which I have just described, towered on the other side of this stone arch bridge. This building was designed by Kisuke Shimizu II, who studied Western architecture in Yokohama at the end of the Edo period. It is also a representative example of pseudo-Western architecture, which is a mixture of Japanese and Western styles and many of which were built from the end of the Edo period to the Meiji period. The Tokyo Stock Exchange was also headquartered in a Western-style building designed by Shimizu and formerly owned by Shimada-gumi when it opened. However, it moved to a neighboring location five years later.

In the direction of the Nihonbashi River from the First National Bank, there was the residence of Shibusawa Eiichi, which was completed in 1888, slightly later than the above buildings. Known as the “father of modern Japanese capitalism,” he moved his residence to Kabutocho to become the “lord” of this town, after realizing his dream of establishing a bank and stock exchange. He built a mansion in the Venetian Gothic style, respecting the predecessor of the City of Water. It was designed by Kingo Tatsuno, who later became famous for designing the Bank of Japan headquarters and Tokyo Station. Tatsuno had already designed the Bankers’ Association, which was his first work, the building for the Tokio Marine Insurance Company, Japan’s first insurance company founded in 1879, and the building for the Meiji Life Insurance Company, founded in 1881. For the young and talented architect, Kabutocho was the perfect stage to demonstrate his skills and abilities.

There were young people who wanted to take advantage of the beginning of a new era and succeed in business. They must have been amazed at the number of stylish Western-style buildings and the fact that they could do everything just by visiting some of the buildings in this area. From consultation on financing to fund procurement, investment, trade arrangement and transportation, they would be able to obtain what they wanted in no time. As they walked around the area to see the sights, it gradually grew dark. Just as they decided to return home, Japan’s first incandescent electric lights were turned on. Dazzled by the brightly lit Western-style houses, they hurried home. Then, they suddenly noticed that light was coming from inside the Shibusawa’s residence. They must have hoped to be like Shibusawa one day and imagined themselves returning to this area.

A new landmark becomes a magnet that attracts people and goods and creates an economy. In doing so, it further increases its magnetic power and renews the surrounding cityscape. This process has not changed over time. In some cases, such as the brick streets of Ginza, the renewal may have occurred locally at the initiative of the government. In other cases, such as the Kabutocho area, it may have been carried out by the force of the capitalist economy before anyone noticed.

Later, as the transportation of goods shifted from boats to railroads, the business center moved to Marunouchi, and this waterfront area chose to serve as a securities district. However, floor trading was abolished in 1999. When the Tokyo Stock Exchange closed its trading floor, the securities professionals, who had filled the streets, suddenly disappeared. Even worse, with the digitalization of stock certificates in 2009, the number of securities companies based in this area gradually decreased. Now, nearly 150 years after Kabutocho’s birth, redevelopment plans are underway, and the area is quietly awaiting its moment of rebirth (to be continued in Part 2).

References:
Terunobu Fujimori (1993) Japan’s Modern Architecture (Vol. 1) – End of the Edo Period to the Meiji Period, Iwanami Shinsho
Chuo City History and Map, Nihonbashi Version (1995), compiled and owned by Kyobashi Library, Chuo City, Tokyo
Tokyo Photography Collection in Meiji, Taisho and Showa (2001), compiled by Keisho Ishiguro, Shinchosha
Terunobu Fujimori (2004) Tokyo’s Plan in the Meiji Period, Iwanami Gendai Bunko
Yuriko Yokoyama (2018) The Meiji Restoration of Edo and Tokyo, Iwanami Shinsho
Megumi Matsuyama (2019) The Meiji Restoration in Urban Space – The Great Transformation from Edo to Tokyo, Chikuma Shinsho