Fires in Edo

Asakusa-mon (浅草門, Asakusa Gate) during the Great Fire of Meireki as depicted in Musashiabumi (むさしあぶみ), a kanazōshi (仮名草子) by Asai Ryōi (浅井 了意). Officials mistook released ex-convicts for prison escapees and shut the gate. People seeking refuge had no choice but to climb the city walls, only to fall into the canal below.
Map of Edo as of the 1840s. The Sumida River is found in the lower right.

Fires in Edo (江戸), the former name of Tokyo, during the Edo period (1600−1868) of Japan were so frequent that the city of Edo was characterized as the saying "Fires and quarrels are the flowers of Edo"[note 1] goes.[1] Even in the modern days, the old Edo was still remembered as the "City of Fires" (火災都市).[2]

Edo was something of a rarity in the world, as vast urban areas of the city were repeatedly leveled by fire.[3] The great fires of Edo were compared to the gods of fire Shukuyū (祝融) and Kairoku (回禄), and also humorously described as "autumn leaves".


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  1. ^ Tenrai 2007.
  2. ^ Nishiyama 1974, pp. 5–20.
  3. ^ Nishiyama 1978, p. 84.