Empire by Design: Railways, Architecture, and Urban Planning
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EMPIRE BY DESIGN: RAILWAYS, ARCHITECTURE, AND URBAN PLANNING IN TOKYO, TAIPEI, AND SEOUL by TRISTAN R. GRUNOW A DISSERTATION Presented to the Department of History and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2014 DISSERTATION APPROVAL PAGE Student: Tristan R. Grunow Title: Empire by Design: Railways, Architecture, and Urban Planning in Tokyo, Taipei, and Seoul This dissertation has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in the Department of History by: Dr. Jeffrey E. Hanes Chairperson Dr. Andrew Goble Core Member Dr. Bryna Goodman Core Member Dr. Michael E. Robinson Core Member Dr. Alisa Freedman Institutional Representative and J. Andrew Berglund Dean of the Graduate School Original approval signatures are on file with the University of Oregon Graduate School. Degree awarded December 2014. ii © 2014 Tristan R. Grunow iii DISSERTATION ABSTRACT Tristan R. Grunow Doctor of Philosophy Department of History December 2014 Title: Empire by Design: Railways, Architecture, and Urban Planning in Tokyo, Taipei, and Seoul This dissertation examines the spatial and built forms of Japanese power. As it sought to consolidate control of new territory, the Meiji government followed a design forged in Tokyo as it attempted to build legitimacy through public works projects, namely railways, Western-style architecture, and urban improvements. The first half of the dissertation traces the emergence of hegemonic urban space in Tokyo from the initiation of the Ginza Bricktown project in 1872 to the opening of Tokyo Station in 1914. Chapter II shows how popular resistance to the Ginza Bricktown project led to a more pragmatic urban planning system in Tokyo. Thereafter, rather than imposing preformed cityscapes onto the city, Japanese urban planners would attempt to reduce costs and avoid popular resistance by strategically widening streets and improving urban infrastructure when and where possible. Chapter III illustrates how the lessons of the Ginza Bricktown paved the way for the re-creation of Tokyo as the imperial capital. As the discussion of Tokyo Station – the so-called “Gateway to the Imperial Capital” – demonstrates, it was the cooperation of government planners, architects, and local forces that ultimately produced imperial space at the heart of the imperial capital. iv The second half of the dissertation demonstrates how Japanese colonizers attempted to establish hegemony in the colonies through manipulation of the natural and built environments of Taiwan and Korea. As Chapter IV argues, Japan pursued railways in Korea from the mid-1890s in an effort to validate Japanese claims to Korean territory. Chapter V shifts the focus to consideration of the built environment in Japanese colonialism. As in Meiji Tokyo, Japanese planners sought to project Japanese imperial power in the colonial urban built environment through programs of Urban Planning (Shiku Keikaku) in Taipei in the 1900s, and Urban Improvement (Shiku Kaishū) in Seoul over the next two decades. Learning from the opposition such projects incited in Tokyo, colonial planners in Taipei and Seoul pragmatically adjusted their plans to make implementation more feasible. As the case study of Seoul will demonstrate, the centerpiece of these projects was the production of imperial space. v CURRICULUM VITAE NAME OF AUTHOR: Tristan R. Grunow GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED: University of Oregon, Eugene Oregon State University, Corvallis DEGREES AWARDED: Doctor of Philosophy, History, 2014, University of Oregon Master of Arts, History, 2008, University of Oregon Bachelor of Arts, Japanese, 2007, University of Oregon Bachelor of Arts, International Studies, 2005, Oregon State University Bachelor of Arts, History, 2005, Oregon State University AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST: Modern Japanese history and culture Imperialism and colonialism in East Asia PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Visiting Instructor of History and Asian Studies, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine, 2014-2015 Graduate Teaching Fellow, Department of History, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, 2007-2010, 2012-2014 GRANTS, AWARDS, AND HONORS: Department of History Richard Maxwell Brown Fellowship, University of Oregon, 2013 Graduate Fellowship Travel Grant, Kobe College Corporation Japan Education Exchange, 2013 vi University of Oregon Center for Asian and Pacific Studies Small Professional Grant, 2013 Fulbright IIE Graduate Research Fellowship, 2011-2012 Center for Asian and Pacific Studies Small Professional Grant, University of Oregon, 2013 Center for Asian and Pacific Studies Foreign Language and Areas Studies Fellowship, University of Oregon, 2008-2009 Frank B. Gibney Student Essay Award, Journal of American-East Asian Relations, 2008 Center for Asian and Pacific Studies Foreign Language and Areas Studies Fellowship, University of Oregon, 2006-2007 Outstanding Senior Award, Oregon State University, 2005 International Research Award, Oregon State University, 2005 Association of International Exchange, Japan Scholarship, Waseda University, 2002-2003 PUBLICATIONS: Grunow, Tristan R. “Paving Power: Western Urban Planning and Imperial Space from the Streets of Tokyo to Colonial Seoul.” Journal of Urban History (Forthcoming, 2015). Grunow, Tristan R. “Trains, Modernity, and State-Formation in Meiji Japan.” In Trains, Culture, and Mobility: Riding the Rails, edited by Benjamin Fraser and Steven D. Spalding, 235-262. Lexington, Mass.: Lexington Books, 2011. Grunow, Tristan R. Review of In the Eye of the Wind: A Travel of Prewar Japan, by Ron Baenninger and Martin Baenninger. Journal of Historical Biography (2010): 103-105. Grunow, Tristan R. “A Re-examination of the ‘Shock of Hiroshima’: The Japanese Bomb Projects and the Surrender Decision.” Journal of American- East Asian Relations 12 (2003): 155-189. vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Driving across the United States from Oregon to Maine during the summer of 2014, I covered a lot of ground – and a lot of road. With an itinerary traversing sixteen states, each state border was cause for celebration symbolizing progress on my long trip. While state borders were often indicated by roadside “Welcome!” signs, I quickly realized that these otherwise invisible lines on the map were denoted by a much more palpable marker: the sharp “thud” my car made as it crossed each state line, caused by changes in surface paving materials or by the gaps between newer and more worn road pavements. Presuming that this resulted from better road surface maintenance in one state than another, I could not help comparing states based on how well they kept up their highways. In doing so, I found myself sharing the reaction of those Japanese Meiji government leaders who visited the United States and Europe in 1871-1873 on the Iwakura Mission. As they toured the Western world, the official travel diary of the mission records, the Iwakura ambassadors saw road conditions as the first indicator of the relative prosperity of whatever nation they were visiting, not to mention the quality of its government. For the Meiji leaders on the Iwakura Mission, this observation was a lesson that Japan must exert as much effort on improvement of the urban built environment as it did on institutional and political reform if it wanted to demonstrate its modernity to the rest of the world. For me, this shared reaction was the fitting culmination of a dissertation project that, in its own way, took the long road to arrive at its destination and passed a few thuds and gaps along the way. This project would not have been possible without the guidance of a number of individuals. Jeffrey E. Hanes, my academic advisor, pushed me to not only hone my skills viii as a modern Japanese historian, but also to broaden my topical and thematic expertise by taking a more comprehensive and comparative view of Japan. Andrew E. Goble taught me the art of archival research and instilled within me a deep appreciation for the linguistic complexities of primary source materials. Alisa Freedman urged me to explore history from multiple perspectives and to employ a variety of evidentiary materials. Bryna Goodman inspired me to engage historical theory in my research and writing. Carola Hein provided several opportunities to present my research and offered constructive criticism. Many other colleagues and friends influenced this project in ways they may not have realized or anticipated. Brian Ladd taught a graduate seminar in which the idea for this project was hatched. Rod Wilson, Jordan Sand, Ian Miller, Evelyn Schulz, André Sorensen, Paul Waley, and Doug Fix all gave valuable feedback at different stages. Takamura Masahiko and his graduate students welcomed me to their research laboratory at Hosei University in Tokyo for one year. Huang Chun Ming and his graduate students at Chung Yuan Christian University made a research trip to Taipei highly productive. Gregory Pflugfelder facilitated research at Columbia University. Dan Free and Wakuda Yasuo clarified details concerning Japanese railways. My fellow graduate students in Oregon, especially Austin Parks, Brendan Morley, Kevin Gouge, Erik Glowark, Hillary Maxson, Lucas Erickson, and Breann Goosmann, engaged in lively discussions and debates about Japanese history. Luis Ruiz, Feather Crawford, Amiel Angeles, Clint Sandvick, and Nathan Jessen made my time in graduate school much more intellectually stimulating and enjoyable. Finally, this dissertation