{"id":195,"date":"2018-06-12T17:53:51","date_gmt":"2018-06-12T21:53:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/meijiat150\/?post_type=chapter&p=195"},"modified":"2019-05-31T12:38:09","modified_gmt":"2019-05-31T16:38:09","slug":"reading-edo-urban-space-in-the-tokyo-gosho-sugoroku-tokyo-rich-merchants-board-game","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/meijiat150\/chapter\/reading-edo-urban-space-in-the-tokyo-gosho-sugoroku-tokyo-rich-merchants-board-game\/","title":{"raw":"Reading Edo Urban Space in the T\u014dky\u014d G\u014dsh\u014d Sugoroku (Tokyo Rich Merchants Board Game) | Kanaya Masataka","rendered":"Reading Edo Urban Space in the T\u014dky\u014d G\u014dsh\u014d Sugoroku (Tokyo Rich Merchants Board Game) | Kanaya Masataka"},"content":{"raw":"

Reading Edo Urban Space in the T\u014dky\u014d G\u014dsh\u014d Sugoroku (Tokyo Rich Merchants Board Game)<\/h1>\r\n

Kanaya Masataka\u00a0<\/strong>|\u00a0H\u014dsei University<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1122\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"1024\"]\"This<\/a> T\u014dky\u014d G\u014dsh\u014d Sugoroku.<\/em> Source: University of British Columbia. Library. Rare Books and Special Collections. Asian Rare-6 no.L3:1)[\/caption]\r\n\r\n

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This image drawn by Utagawa Hiroshige III is an\u00a0<\/span>e-sugoroku,\u00a0<\/span><\/em>or \u201cpicture board game,\u201d depicting Tokyo in the early Meiji Period (1868-1912).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Sugoroku<\/em>\u00a0are Japanese board games similar to those seen around the world: players roll a dice to advance from the start (<\/span>furidashi<\/em>) square through a series of squares around the board.\u00a0 The player who reaches the end square (<\/span>agari<\/em>) first is the winner.\u00a0 In Japan, the development of printing technology from the middle of the Edo Period (1600-1868) made possible the publication of various form of so-called\u00a0<\/span>e-sugoroku<\/em>, combining board games with graphic images.[footnote]\u52a0\u85e4\u5eb7\u5b50\u30fb\u677e\u6751\u502b\u5b50\u7de8\u8457\u300e\u5e55\u672b\u30fb\u660e\u6cbb\u306e\u7d75\u53cc\u516d\u300f\u56fd\u66f8\u520a\u884c\u4f1a\u3001, 2002[\/footnote]<\/span>\u00a0 Classifications of\u00a0<\/span>e-sugoroku<\/em>\u00a0are as varied as the types of board games themselves, but Takahashi Junji has categorized the\u00a0<\/span>T\u014dky\u014d G\u014dsh\u014d Sugoroku<\/em>\u00a0as one of many \u201cenlightenment board games\u201d (<\/span>kaika sugoroku<\/em>) illustrating the \u201ccivilization and enlightenment\u201d (<\/span>bunmei kaika<\/em>) of the early-Meiji Period.[footnote]\u9ad8\u6a4b\u9806\u4e8c\u7de8\u8457\u300e\u65e5\u672c\u7d75\u53cc\u516d\u96c6\u6210\u300f\u67cf\u66f8\u623f, 1980<\/span>[\/footnote]<\/span>\u00a0 Still, the\u00a0<\/span>T\u014dky\u014d G\u014dsh\u014d Sugoroku<\/em>\u00a0also portrays traditional buildings retained from the Edo period right alongside the Western architecture that symbolized \u201ccivilization and enlightenment\u201d during the Meiji period.\u00a0 In this way, Western and Japanese architectural forms mixed in the urban space of Tokyo during the early years of the city\u2019s modern period.\u00a0 The Westernization of the city was at first pushed by the central government, but was later adopted by local residents as a place to experience a novel urban space by the end of the Meiji Period.\u00a0 By mapping what buildings were erected at which locations, we can locate the early-Meiji Tokyo urban layout and lot division patterns inherited from Edo. \u00a0Thus, through a close reading of the architectural forms depicted on the\u00a0<\/span>T\u014dky\u014d G\u014dsh\u014d Sugoroku<\/em>, this essay offers a glimpse of the traces of Edo urban space in early-Meiji Tokyo.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_202\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"1024\"]\"This<\/a> Figure 1<\/strong>. Detail of Kawase Gaisha in T\u014dky\u014d g\u014dsh\u014d sugoroku<\/em>.[\/caption]\r\n

First, a detailed look at the\u00a0<\/span>T\u014dky\u014d G\u014dsh\u014d Sugoroku<\/em>.\u00a0 In each of the game squares, we can see a number of building types no longer present in Tokyo \u2013 castellated buildings, roofs adorned with mythical sea creatures (<\/span>shachi<\/em>), or the plastered warehouses and Western-style brick buildings lining the Ginza.\u00a0 Labels identify the names and addresses of companies new to Tokyo at the time. Starting from the Kawase Gaisha commercial exchange in the bottom-central\u00a0<\/span>furidashi\u00a0<\/span><\/em>square, players roll the dice to reach the First National Bank in the\u00a0<\/span>agari<\/em>\u00a0square at the top-center.\u00a0 Notice the label in the Kawase Gaisha square locating the building in Moto-\u014csakach\u014d [Figure 1]<\/strong>, a commoners\u2019 neighborhood from the Edo-period that disappeared in 1933 as part of the Imperial Capital Reconstruction Project following the Great Kant\u014d Earthquake (now part of Nihonbashi Ningy\u014dch\u014d).\u00a0 A number of theories exist for the origin of the neighborhood\u2019s name, but it is thought it derives from the granting of the land to merchants who moved from \u014csaka during the Tensh\u014d Era (1573-1592), with \u201cMoto\u201d added to distinguish the area from nearby Shin-\u014csakach\u014d (now Nihonbashi Tomizawach\u014d).[footnote]\u6771\u4eac\u5e02\u5f79\u6240\u5e02\u53f2\u7de8\u7e82\u300e\u6771\u4eac\u6848\u5185\u4e0a\u5dfb\u300f1986(1907\u5e74\u66f8\u8086\u88f3\u83ef\u623f\u306e\u5fa9\u523b\u7248\u3092\u7528\u3044\u305f)\u3001\u307e\u305f\u3001\u6771\u4eac\u5e9c\u304c\u660e\u6cbb5\u5e74\u304b\u30897\u5e74\u306b\u308f\u305f\u3063\u3066\u884c\u3063\u305f\u8abf\u67fb(\u6771\u4eac\u90fd\u300e\u6771\u4eac\u5e9c\u53f2\u65991\u300f1959)\u306b\u306f\u300c\u5927\u5742\u306e\u5efb\u8239\u6b64\u6240\u307e\u3066\u5165\u6d25\u305b\u3057\u6545\u306b\u5927\u5742\u753a\u3068\u5531\u3046\u300d\u3068\u3042\u308b\u3002[\/footnote]<\/span>During the Edo Period, the urban space of Edo was made up primarily of samurai areas (<\/span>bukechi<\/em>), commoner areas (<\/span>ch\u014dninchi<\/em>), and temple and shrine lands (<\/span>jishachi<\/em>).\u00a0 According an 1869 survey,\u00a0<\/span>bukechi\u00a0<\/span><\/em>made up 68.6%, or 9,585 acres, of the urban area of Edo, with the remainder split evenly between\u00a0<\/span>ch\u014dninchi\u00a0<\/span><\/em>(15.8%) and\u00a0<\/span>jishachi\u00a0<\/span><\/em>(15.6%).[footnote]\u5409\u7530\u4f38\u4e4b\u7de8\u300c\u6c5f\u6238\u306e\u571f\u5730\u2014\u5927\u540d\u30fb\u5e55\u81e3\u306e\u571f\u5730\u554f\u984c\u300d\u300e\u65e5\u672c\u306e\u8fd1\u4e169\u300f\u4e2d\u592e\u516c\u8ad6\u793e, 1992[\/footnote]<\/span>\u00a0It is possible, moreover, to roughly define a typical pattern of buildings that would have stood in each of these areas.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_201\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"256\"]\"This<\/a> Figure 2<\/strong>. Detail of Enomoto Sh\u014dkai in T\u014dky\u014d g\u014dsh\u014d sugoroku<\/em>.[\/caption]\r\n

To this point, notice the layout of the buildings.\u00a0 Following the precedent of Edo-period samurai areas, the buildings are set far back from the street-front gate, allowing the gate to completely obscure the front entrance of the building.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Bukechi<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>lands were granted exclusively to warriors by the Tokuagawa Shogunate and varied in size, but most followed the basic layout of gradual stages passing from the street through a main gate into the compound and to a special guest entrance into the residence. \u00a0In Edo commoners\u2019 areas, on the other hand, storefronts faced directly onto the street with no gates, allowing direct entry into the building.\u00a0 On the\u00a0<\/span>T\u014dky\u014d G\u014dsh\u014d Sugoroku<\/em>, both the Enomoto Kaisha and the Kajima Sakadana are of this type.\u00a0 In this way, by looking at the layout of buildings, it is possible to define a typical pattern of Edo-period compounds.\u00a0 But this would mean that in the case of the Kawase Gaisha a building with a\u00a0<\/span>bukechi<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>layout was erected in a former\u00a0<\/span>ch\u014dninchi<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>lot.<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_203\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"150\"]\"This<\/a> Figure 3<\/strong>. T\u014dky\u014d zenzu<\/em> (1875). Original Format: University of British Columbia Library. Rare Books and Special Collections. G7964 .T7 1875 I3.[\/caption]\r\n

Now, why is it that the Kawase Gaisha has a\u00a0<\/span>bukechi\u00a0<\/span><\/em>layout in the commoners\u2019 area of Moto-\u014csakach\u014d?\u00a0 In fact, this neighborhood had originally been a\u00a0<\/span>bukechi<\/em>.\u00a0 In the detail of the 1874\u00a0<\/span>T\u014dky\u014d Zenzu<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>in Figure 3<\/strong>, we can see a marker for T\u014dky\u014d Kawase Gaisha in the centre-upper right in a plot that is quite large compared to the neighboring properties.\u00a0 In reality, the T\u014dky\u014d Kawase Gaisha was not in Moto-\u014csakach\u014d at all, but instead in the 2-ch\u014dme block of Kakigarach\u014d.\u00a0 Next let\u2019s take a look at the 1859 Owariya\u00a0<\/span>kiriezu<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>in Figure 4<\/strong>, depicting the areas to the south of those seen in Figure 3<\/strong>.\u00a0 On this\u00a0<\/span>kiriezu<\/em>, we see the name \u201cGinza\u201d denoting the location of the silver mint later replaced by the T\u014dky\u014d Kawase Gaisha during the Meiji Period.\u00a0 The reason the district known as Ginza today is located to the southwest of the \u201cGinza\u201d shown in Figure 4<\/strong> is that the mint had been relocated to this area in 1800 as a result of worsening management and incidents of illegal activity.[footnote]\u5927\u77f3\u5b66\u300e\u5730\u540d\u3067\u8aad\u3080\u6c5f\u6238\u306e\u753a\u300fPHP\u65b0\u66f8,2001\u3001\u304a\u3088\u3073[3][\/footnote] At this time, the mint was under the direct control of the Tokugawa Shogunate\u2019s finance magistrate (kanj\u014d bugy\u014d<\/em>).\u00a0 The whole of Moto-\u014csakach\u014d and the areas across the street were all\u00a0<\/span>bukechi<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>with many Daimy\u014d compounds.\u00a0 During the Edo period,\u00a0<\/span>bukechi\u00a0<\/span><\/em>neighborhoods did not have names, and the name Kakigarach\u014d was not fixed until the tenth month of 1871.[footnote]\u6771\u4eac\u5e02\u65e5\u672c\u6a4b\u533a\u5f79\u6240\u7de8\u7e82\u300e\u65e5\u672c\u6a4b\u533a\u53f2\u7b2c\u4e00\u518c\u300f1916[\/footnote]<\/p>\r\n

So, why is the neighborhood in the\u00a0<\/span>T\u014dky\u014d G\u014dsh\u014d Sugoroku\u00a0<\/span><\/em>listed as Moto-\u014csakach\u014d?\u00a0 The key to unlocking this question lies in the fact that in the decades prior to the scene depicted in the Figure 4<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>kiriezu<\/em>, just over 1 acre of land was added to Ginza in the ninth month of 1842.[footnote]\u6771\u4eac\u5e02\u65e5\u672c\u6a4b\u533a\u5f79\u6240\u7de8\u7e82\u300e\u65e5\u672c\u6a4b\u533a\u53f2\u7b2c\u4e09\u518c\u300f1916[\/footnote]\u00a0Referring to the 1840\u00a0<\/span>Go-funai enkaku zusho<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>map that allows us to trace changes in Edo land usage patterns, we see that the areas subsumed into Ginza are labeled Moto-\u014csakach\u014d [Figure 5]<\/strong> since Edo was made up of neighborhoods in which one name referred to areas on both sides of the street.\u00a0 But in this case, since one half of the street was subsumed into Ginza, we know that Moto-\u014csakach\u014d only referred to one side of the street.\u00a0 Because the commoner\u2019s district of Moto-\u014csakach\u014d was incorporated into Ginza, the name of Moto-\u014csakach\u014d is listed in the caption on the\u00a0<\/span>T\u014dky\u014d G\u014dsh\u014d Sugoroku<\/em>. Thus, the spatial characteristics of the Kawase Gaisha were inherited from the former\u00a0<\/span>bukechi<\/em>.\u00a0 In much the same way, the First National Bank in the centre-top\u00a0<\/span>agari<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>square, the Fifth National Bank in the top right square, or the Tokyo Grain Exchange (T\u014dky\u014d Sh\u014dk\u014d Kaisha<\/em>) in the right-middle all have the same spatial layout as the Kawase Gaisha.\u00a0 And as we can see in the\u00a0<\/span>kiriezu<\/em>, they all were former\u00a0<\/span>bukechi<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>prior to the Meiji Period.\u00a0 In the case of the First National Bank, the Shimada-gumi erected the building in the former compound of the Matsudaira governor of Izumi sold off by the government following the Meiji Restoration.<\/p>\r\n

<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_204\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"150\"]\"This<\/a> Figure 4<\/strong>. Kiriezu nihonbashi kita<\/em> (1852). Original Format: University of British Columbia. Library. Rare Books and Special Collections. G7964.T7 1869 T6 v.1-30.[\/caption]\r\n

Next, let\u2019s turn our attention to the rowhouse gates (nagayamon<\/em>) lining the streets.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Nagayamon<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>denotes a rowhouse that includes a gate, a type of construction which for the most part only high-level samurai were permitted to build.\u00a0 In the case of Daimy\u014d, soldiers would live in rowhouses on either side of the gate.\u00a0 In the Kawase Gaisha square on the\u00a0<\/span>T\u014dky\u014d G\u014dsh\u014d Sugoroku<\/em>, we can see what at first appears to be a generic\u00a0<\/span>nagayamon\u00a0<\/span><\/em>with a window opening onto the street to the right of the gate.\u00a0 However, there are a number of unexpected things here.\u00a0 First, the gatepost.\u00a0 The gatepost in the image is exceptionally advanced for this time-period.\u00a0 Namely, the top of the pillar is ornamented with a spherical\u00a0<\/span>giboshi<\/em>, a design not formally used for samurai compound gates.\u00a0 Instead,\u00a0<\/span>giboshi<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>were a type of ornament seen originally in temple construction and bridge railings.\u00a0 Secondly, the curvature at the top of the gate.\u00a0 Until then, arches and curves were not often seen in a Japan with so much wooden construction.\u00a0 But we can see that the gate of the Kawase Gaisha has an arch with decorations on top.\u00a0 A gate of this same design can also be seen in Tokyo Grain Exchange (T\u014dky\u014d Sh\u014dk\u014d Kaisha<\/em>) square in the right-middle of the board.\u00a0 The First National Bank in the\u00a0<\/span>agari\u00a0<\/span><\/em>square also has an arched gate, indicating that such arches were symbols of Western architecture for carpenters at that time.<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_206\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"150\"]\"This<\/a> Figure 5<\/strong>. Go-funai Enkaku Zusho<\/em> (1840).[\/caption]\r\n

Although these Western-style buildings all feature arched windows, quoins, and classical entablature, it is clear at first glance that these are not genuine Western buildings.\u00a0 Constructed by Japanese carpenters, the Western-style buildings erected at this time were not made of stone as in the case of actual Western construction but were made of wooden frames and plastered with stone on the outer walls.\u00a0 In other cases, earthen walls were even made to look like stonework.\u00a0 First appearing in the early Meiji Period, this type of so-called \u201cPseudo-Western\u201d (<\/span>Giy\u014df\u016b<\/em>) architecture was built by Japanese carpenters following the example of Western-style buildings erected in the foreign settlement in Yokohama following the opening of the port in 1854.[footnote]\u64ec\u6d0b\u98a8\u5efa\u7bc9\u306e\u89e3\u8aac\u306b\u3064\u3044\u3066\u306f\u85e4\u68ee\u7167\u4fe1\u300e\u65e5\u672c\u306e\u8fd1\u4ee3\u5efa\u7bc9(\u4e0a)-\u5e55\u672b\u30fb\u660e\u6cbb\u7bc7\u2013\u300f\u5ca9\u6ce2\u65b0\u66f8,1993\u306b\u8a73\u3057\u3044\u3002[\/footnote]<\/span>\u00a0 It was Japanese carpenters employed in the construction of these buildings in the Yokohama foreign settlement who made it possible for\u00a0<\/span>Giy\u014df\u016b<\/em>\u00a0architecture to blossom in Tokyo.\u00a0 The first bloom was surely none other than the 1872 First National Bank in the\u00a0<\/span>T\u014dky\u014d G\u014dsh\u014d Sugoroku\u2019s agari<\/em>\u00a0square and popularized by the triptych by Sh\u014dsai Ikkei from the same year in Figure 6<\/strong>.\u00a0 The building was a five-story castle-style structure built through and through with Japanese architectural elements, but the bottom two stories were constructed with a design mimicking Western stone architecture.\u00a0 The compound interior, meanwhile, has a courtyard, and the building was divided into a number of small rooms laid out in the Japanese step-back (<\/span>gank\u014d<\/em>) style because of its wooden construction, as planned and implemented by Japanese carpenter Shimizu Kisuke.[footnote]\u521d\u7530\u4ea8\u300e\u90fd\u5e02\u306e\u660e\u6cbb\u2014\u8def\u4e0a\u304b\u3089\u306e\u5efa\u7bc9\u53f2\u300f1981\u7b51\u6469\u66f8\u623f[\/footnote]<\/span><\/p>\r\n

While Western-style buildings began to be erected in former samurai areas as hoped for by a Meiji government intent on Westernization, buildings in former commoner areas with the exception of Ginza Bricktown largely remained plaster\u00a0<\/span>doz\u014d-zukuri<\/em>\u00a0warehouses (<\/span>for more on Ginza Bricktown, see essay by Tristan Grunow<\/a>).\u00a0 Looking back from the early Meiji Period to the Edo Period allows us to see continuities in urban space.\u00a0 In the case of the Nihonbashi area, samurai and commoner areas were mixed in the urban space and were often side-by-side.\u00a0 As a result, the\u00a0<\/span>Giy\u014df\u016b\u00a0<\/span><\/em>buildings of samurai areas and the plaster warehouses of commoner areas, too, were mixed throughout the city.\u00a0 Fires frequently razed commoner areas, with buildings erected only to be consumed by fires time and time again.\u00a0 Finally, in 1881, the Tokyo government issued fireproofing regulations, requiring buildings facing main streets to be built in brick, stone, or plaster.\u00a0 Structures erected following these new guidelines, however, continued to be plaster for the most part.\u00a0 Following the 1872 Ginza Fire and the construction of Ginza Bricktown, Western style buildings gradually began to appear in commoners\u2019 areas.\u00a0 But it was not until the late Meiji Period that Western architecture came to be widespread in commoner areas.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1121\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"600\"]\"A<\/a> Figure 6.<\/strong> Ikkei, Kaiunbashi Kawaseza no zu.<\/em> Source: University of British Columbia. Library. Rare Books and Special Collections. Asian Rare-06 no.L3:9.[\/caption]\r\n

Even still, Western-style buildings erected in the late Meiji period in commoners\u2019 areas were actually wooden, with a fa\u00e7ade of plaster made to appear Western. \u00a0The reason for this was that the people who most actively embraced the impact of \u201cthe West\u201d in Tokyo were the skillful merchants who could profit from having a unique Western-style building to attract customers to their stores. \u00a0\u00a0As a result, vaguely \u201cWestern\u201d streetscapes appeared in downtown areas like Ginza and Asakusa by the end of the Meiji period.\u00a0 The \u201cWest\u201d that finally became most familiar to the general public in Tokyo, then, was a \u201cWest\u201d that was already a misrepresentation, and it was not even until after the end of the Meiji Period that Western-style rooms began to appear in middle-class Japanese houses.\u00a0 By the 1910s, Western architecture and traditional plaster architecture of various designs chaotically mixed in a state of complete disorder throughout the city.[footnote]\u524d\u63b2[9][\/footnote]<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Meiji Government erected Western-style buildings to appeal to Western countries in the hopes of revising unequal treaties, requiring the construction of authentic Western architecture.\u00a0 That plan would come to fruition with the Rokumeikan, or \u201cDeer Cry Pavilion,\u201d completed in 1883.\u00a0 In other words, Government-sponsored buildings gradually transitioned from pseudo-Western\u00a0<\/span>Giy\u014df\u016b\u00a0<\/span><\/em>architecture designed and constructed by Japanese carpenters or hired foreign advisors (<\/span>oyatoi<\/em>)<\/span>,[footnote]\u201cHired foreign advisors\u201d (oyatoi) refers to foreigners hired by the Meiji government in the early Meiji period. Many of the foreigners hired relating to architecture were actually engineers rather than architects.[\/footnote] to more authentic Western architecture.\u00a0 Urban residents, on the other hand, commissioned\u00a0<\/span>Giy\u014df\u016b<\/em>-style structures from craftspeople who eagerly embraced Western cultural influences instead of rejecting them.\u00a0 As a result, new techniques adopting new forms without hesitation and allowing new and old forms to coexist began appearing in the urban space of Tokyo. The\u00a0<\/span>T\u014dky\u014d G\u014dsh\u014d Sugoroku<\/em>\u00a0gives us a visual depiction of this mixing of Western and Japanese styles in early Meiji Tokyo.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Translated by Tristan R. Grunow<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Buildings and Locations Depicted in the\u00a0T\u014dky\u014d G\u014dsh\u014d Sugoroku<\/em><\/strong><\/h5>\r\n