Customer Reviews

Edo, the City that Became Tokyo: An Illustrated History

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Originally published in Japanese in 1982, Naito's book attempts to outline the early rise of Edo, from 1603-1867, the period when the city served as the capital of the Shogun. These were the military leaders who in theory served the Emperor in Kyoto, but who in practice ran the country. This period gave birth to much of what is now considered to be the core of Japanese culture: kabuki, ukiyoe, geisha, sumo, and the haiku poets. When Japan was finally forced to open to the outside world by Admiral Perry and his Black ships, at the very end of the book, Tokyo was the largest city in the world.
Naito has organized his text chronologically, with much commentary on the construction of the Imperial Palace and land reclamation projections on and around Tokyo Bay. He also provides simple primers on the class system in effect-warriors, farmers, artisans, and merchants-and the slow rise of the commoners.
Perhaps inevitably, the text has a Greatest Hits feel to it. 250 years of history of one of the world's great cities cannot possible be conveyed with much depth in 200-odd pages. Also, the omission of some of the more unsavory aspects of Tokyo's history-organized crime, the untouchable class, etc.-leaves the reader with a rather sanitized version of the city. However, the book has something for everyone: the opening sections on urban design, kabuki, riots, storms, artisans, festivals, gangs, etc.-and all packaged in short, delectable bite-size bits.