Great Fire of Meireki

Handscroll depicting scenes from the Great Fire of Meireki (kept at the Edo-Tokyo Museum)

The Great Fire of Meireki (明暦の大火, Meireki no taika), also known as the Great Furisode Fire, destroyed 60–70% of Edo (now Tokyo), the then de facto capital city of Japan, on 2 March 1657,[1] the third year of the Meireki Imperial era. The fire lasted for three days and, in combination with a severe blizzard that quickly followed, is estimated to have killed over 100,000 people.[2]

  1. ^ Blusse, Leonard & Cynthia Vaillé (2005). The Deshima Dagregisters, Volume XII 1650–1660. Leiden
  2. ^ Evans, Robert Jr. (1990). "Economic Growth and Fires: The Case of Japan" (PDF). Keio Economic Studies. 27 (1): 51–59. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 November 2023. Retrieved 23 November 2023 – via KOARA (KeiO Associated Repository of Academic resources).