The Tokaido—Scenes from Edo to Meiji Eras

F Impact of Railways on Japanese Society & Culture

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Jilly Traganou

Oshu Kaido) road system. The Gokaido changed at each post station) or Infrastructure were initially developed to meet the mili- palanquins for high-status travellers. tary needs of the government to facili- There were ferry services at water cross- In the Edo Era (1600–1868), the Tokaido tate movement of officials, armies, and ings (Ise Bay, Lake Hamana), but travel- road was the most important route in Ja- post. Despite the travel restrictions, the lers had to hire porters at large rivers like pan, linking Kyoto, the imperial capital, internal stability and expanding economy Oi and Abe. The trip from Edo to Kyoto r with Edo, the seat of the Tokugawa permitted large numbers of commoners took about 12 days at an average speed Shogunate. As the name Tokaido (east- to use the roads. Consequently, by the of 25 miles a day. ern sea route) implies, the road runs east early 19th century, the emergence of a

es from Kyoto to Edo. Kamigata (upper re- middle class, composed of lower-class gion) was the district surrounding the samurai and rising merchants, coincided Flourishing of Gokaido emperor’s palace in Kyoto. Therefore, with an extensive travel boom. during the Edo Era, people still went ‘up’ Post-stations (shukuba) offering lodging The flourishing of the Gokaido was (nobori) to Kyoto, and ‘down’ (kudari) to and other facilities were established largely supported by the alternate resi- Edo. At the Meiji Restoration when real along the roads at equal distances. dence system (Sankin kotai) whereby feu- political power was returned to the Meiji Middle stages and tea houses between dal lords (daimyo) were compelled to Emperor, he moved his Imperial Palace post-stations facilitated shorter journeys. travel annually to Edo, where they kept to Tokyo, set up a new central govern- Travellers were controlled at checkpoints their families and residences. The for- ment there and officially transferred the (sekisho) usually positioned at natural mal travelling procedure required many capital from Kyoto to Edo. After this barriers on the roads (such as Hakone and followers and a display of wealth dem- change in hierarchy, people travelled ‘up’ Arai). The road infrastructure included onstrating their high status. Various cat- to Tokyo and ‘down’ to Kyoto. bridges, river crossings, markers at every egories of inns (honjin, waki-honjin, In the Edo Era, travel in Japan was regu- ri (3927 m) and road maintenance, as yadoya) were built at each station to ac- lated by the Tokugawa Shogunate well as paving and roadside trees. Trav- commodate the daimyo processions. through the Gokaido (Tokaido, elling was confined to foot for common- Many local merchants and carriers were Nakasendo, Koshu Kaido, Nikko Kaido, ers and to horses (which had to be employed to serve them. Consequently,

Figure 1 Comparison of Tokaido Road (Edo Era) and Tokaido Railway (Meiji Era, 1889)

Figure 2 Tokaido Route Pictograph, 1716, showing Fuchu or Sunpu (today’s Shizuoka)

the regions close to the roads benefited scenic but rough. Imperial envoys used places’, meisho (previously associated economically from the flow of people the two routes alternately. with spiritual matters), as sites for escape, and trade. The Gokaido, and especially illusion and entertainment. This attitude the Tokaido, became sites of social di- Floating world indicates a remarkable attention by the versity, where people from different The Tokaido became the main artery for socially-excluded and politically-dissat- classes and regions met and saw the west- travel by the daimyo fulfilling their Sankin isfied merchant and master-less samurai ern novelties being carried from Nagasaki kotai obligations and for commoners, be- classes to the periphery as a possible to Edo. cause it was less dangerous. However, playground. In 1691, Engelbert Kaempfer described many parts of the Tokaido were still prey the Tokaido (Fig. 1) as, ‘more crowded to unpredictable factors, such as bad than the publik (sic) streets in any (of) the weather, floods, and thieves. The Modernization most populous towns in Europe’. The Tokaido’s safety and especially flourish- Tokaido had 53 post-stations, many of ing amusement areas around the post sta- In the Meiji Era (1868–1912), the coun- which were parts of castle towns, temple tions increased its popularity in the mass try officially entered the modern age with cities, or port cities. They had the high- culture of the period. An entertainment the opening up to the West and the trans- est average population (3950) in relation industry (including souvenir shops, tea fer of the capital from Kyoto to Tokyo, to the other roads and had many tourist houses, public baths and brothels) devel- following the Meiji Restoration. First, facilities. Franz von Siebold, a Dutch oped along the route to alleviate the fa- there was a radical shift in public atten- doctor, remarked in 1826, ‘Except for a tigue of the journey. As a result, the tion to the main urban centres, particu- small portion of the Tokaido which passes Tokaido was identified in the collective larly Tokyo. Second, Western imported through a mountainous region, the road memory as a main part of the ‘floating infrastructure, and especially railways, al- consists of almost a continuous line of world’ (ukiyo), a culture based on travel- tered people’s concepts of space and towns, villages and teahouses.’ The ling and constant pursuit of life’s transient time. Both had major effects on the cen- Tokaido had fewer mountainous parts pleasures. The flowering of the gokaido tre-periphery relationship, and altered compared to the other roads. The during the Edo Era became a major theme perceptions from the illusory to the fac- Nakasendo also connected Edo and of the popular arts. The Tokaido’s post- tual. Kyoto via a longer inland route, that was stations were added to the list of ‘famous The Tokaido Railway was completed in

1889 almost parallel to the route of Kusatsu. The parts missed by the line Tokaido road (Fig. 1). The feudal road Opening of Tokaido Railway were soon connected by private lines that system of travel control was abolished in became very popular, creating the so- 1869. The same year, the Meiji govern- Although the Nakasendo route was ac- called ‘railway mania’ at the turn of the ment agreed to proceed with railway con- cepted by both the government and mili- century. struction as a means of modernization, tary, as the work proceeded, they realized Opening ceremonies for the first section centralization of power and market uni- that the rugged terrain would cause much between Shimbashi (now Shiodome) and fication following the recommendation higher costs and longer construction. Fi- Yokohama (now Sakuragicho) took place of Sir Harry Parkes, (1825–1885) the Brit- nally, it was abandoned in 1886 for a new on 14 October 1872. Service started be- ish minister to Japan. Messrs Okuma route, almost parallel to the old Tokaido tween Osaka and Kobe on 11 May 1874, Shigenobu(1) and Ito Hirobumi started the road. Figure 1 shows the deviations of between Kyoto and Osaka on 6 Febru- construction between Tokyo and the railway from the road, usually as a ary 1877; and between Kyoto and Otsu Yokohama, and Sato Masayoshi and Ono result of mountainous geography. The in July 1880 after completion of the Tomogoro started surveying the route for route followed the Tokaido road until Osakayama Tunnel (28 June). Nagahama the trunk line. In their report to the gov- Atsuta except at Hakone Pass, where it Station (a national treasure since 1958— ernment, they concluded that it would took the easier path via Ashigara (Oiso, JRTR 9, pp. 28–29) was built in 1882 as be more useful to construct the trunk Kozu, Gotemba, Numazu), skipping the a part of the line, and transport between route along the Nakasendo instead of the post-stations at Odawara, Hakone and Nagahama and Otsu was via ship. This Tokaido to promote development of the Mishima. From Atsuta, it followed the made a major contribution to the local mountainous region. Their proposed in- ancient Mino Way to the famous economy, but it went into decline after land route also had the approval of the Sekigahara Pass. There, it turned south realignment of the railway that excluded military, who were afraid that a coastal along the Biwa Plain, crossing the south- the two stations from the route. The en- railway would be vulnerable to foreign ern tip of Lake Biwa via a new bridge tire trunk line between Shimbashi and attack. The Japanese military saw the rail- over the Seto. The post-stations on the Kobe was inaugurated on 1 July 1889 way as an increase in the power of for- Tokaido road from Kuwana to Ishibe were with a journey time of 20 hours and 5 eigners—’an abominable alien machine’ not included in the railway route, which minutes. in ‘the land of the gods.’ rejoined the Tokaido road again at

Negative reactions in 1690, is an example of a pictographic as a travel guide containing practical in- The railway construction created various map. Although drawn in a panoramic formation regarding porterage fees and negative reactions on the part of the post- style containing vivid details of life along inn location and prices, to facilitate stations who saw it as a threat to their the roadside, it does not lack precision travel. prosperity, and Okazaki, Hakone and as a map. It derives from a government other post-station towns refused to build map of 1651 drawn to a scale of 1:12,000 Control and practices nearby railway stations. Travel contin- and contains almost all the ri-markers and Comparison of Figs. 2 and 3 shows that ued along the old Tokaido road while the cardinal compass directions. It was used there was no strong distinction between railway was under construction. At the same time, the abolition of the travel restrictions gave rise to private businesses, such as land transportation companies, Figure 4 Railway Map, 1898 (detail) that were now allowed to use horse car- riages. A company called Rikuun Moto Gaisha (Land Transport Co.) was established in Tokyo in 1872 and it had merged with all the local transport companies within 2 years. It handled baggage and became affiliated with 2000 local inns, Osaka forming a powerful network facilitating Kyoto road travel. However, completion of the railway resulted in decline of both the post-stations and the land transportation network.

Mapping

In the Edo Era, numerous prints and maps of the Tokaido road were produced, either as administrative tools or land sur- veys for the authorities, or as guides and souvenirs for travellers. The original maps prepared by the Shogunate were Shimbashi often very accurate, as demonstrated by Shinagawa the official Tokaido bunken nobe ezu (Tokaido Route Pictograph) drawn in 1716 (Fig. 2). It is an accurate survey drawn in a consistent manner on a plane, but including many exaggerated icono- graphic symbols. These symbols denote either architectural typologies (shrines, Yokohama temples, castles, inns), topographical fea- tures, or other important elements of the road infrastructure, such as bridges and distance markers (ichirizuka). These 1-ri markers were important for travelling and map reading. The Tokaido bunken ezu (Fig. 3), drawn

20 Japan Railway & Transport Review • September 1997 Copyright © 1997 EJRCF. All rights reserved. the ‘high and low’ cultures in the Edo Era. ing from the collective mythology of the tains topographical elements of the Edo Artists of the ‘floating world’ were often era and from the viewpoint of ordinary Era, such as Nihonbashi Bridge in Tokyo, commissioned to produce maps by the travellers. It is worth noticing that Mt. Mt Fuji, etc. However, Tokyo is not authorities, and their distinct decorative Fuji is represented in the latter more than named in the same distinct manner as style penetrated even official maps. Al- once—at its actual location, and at each Edo used to be, but is rather a conglom- though both maps are drawn in a pan- point from where it is visible. eration of different stations: Shimbashi, oramic way they differ in their space Shinagawa, etc. This shows the initial perception. Fig. 2 is a view of space ‘from Space compression lack of awareness of Tokyo’s centrality, above’ while Fig. 3 shows space per- The official maps of the Meiji Era are making a sharp contrast with the monu- ceived as a ‘field of practices’, as defined more accurate than their predecessors; mentality of Tokyo Central Station, built by Michel de Certeau. While Fig. 2 aims they follow Western methods of repre- at the beginning of the Taisho Era (1912– to describe stable spatial elements, and sentation and measurement that had al- 1926). functions as an active device of survey ready been used in major cartographic But most importantly, in this map we see and control, Fig. 3 describes the route un- projects of the Edo Era, undertaken a tangible example of the spatial com- folding through time, and offers a narra- mainly by Ino Tadataka. By contrast, pression, or geographic distortion, pro- tion of events and fables. Therefore, Meiji railway maps developed in a dif- duced by the railway network. Although while in the former, Tokaido is perceived ferent way. A good example is the the diagrammatic perception of space as a spatial territory, in the latter, Tokaido Tetsudo senro chisen ritei hyo railway can be explained through the mechani- is perceived as a temporal entity, deriv- map of 1898 (Fig. 4). This map still con- zation of the railway and the logistic na-

Figure 5 Sugoroku Board Game, Meiji Era

Figure 6 Tokaido Meisho, Oi River, Edo Era

ture of the chart, it would be a mistake sition inside the travel network. The ward into the recesses of their illusionist to associate such a phenomenon exclu- broader cultural environments within depths instead of expanding the horizon sively with the mechanics of mobility. which such spatial perceptions operated of the viewer as required by the western On the contrary, this spatial compression are described below. use of perspective. In the Edo Era, art is reminiscent of the travel guide maps was still under the influence of the ‘mind or the game sugoroku (Fig. 5), which is Illusion landscapes’ of Yamato (ancient Japanese) similar to the backgammon board game, The misemono shows of the Edo Era, ex- culture, and did not intend to reproduce and which became very popular after the hibited many foreign novelties reaching physical or man-made territory in a real- Edo Era. In these pictures, a diagram- Edo via the Tokaido road from Nagasaki istic manner, but instead reproduced the matic, almost fragmented description of Port (for many years, the only port opened energy or the idea of the place. space contrasts with the holistic topo- to trade with the West). Optical devices For Edo commoners, ‘place’ was a field graphic representation of the previous (kiki), such as telescopes, microscopes, of illusion, rather than of observation. two maps. The frame sequence of im- or peepshow boxes, opened up a new Depiction of space followed the older li- portant places is more important than the field of vision, operating in a different terati system of the ‘famous places’ space continuity, the exact geographical context from that of ‘western scientific (meisho) adding new meisho around Edo, location, or the physical formation of the gaze’ rooted in close and objective ob- Tokaido, etc. (Fig. 6) It is important to territory as a whole. Space is presented servation. As the historian Timothy note that a condition of meisho art pre- as an enumeration of famous spots, with Screech describes, Edo’s ‘sunken pictures’ sumes travel to significant places to view attention given only to their relevant po- (kubomi-e) plunged the viewer down- seasonally changing natural phenomena

Original owned by NIPPON EXPRESS CO.,LTD or historically important spots. Therefore, Attempts at realism the station buildings (Fig. 7) excited the it is apparent that space in meisho is con- At the Meiji Restoration, the attention of Meiji public imagination. Shimbashi and sidered to be ‘movement-oriented space’, the modern state shifted from the mar- Yokohama stations—the first in Japan— a space to be discovered through mobil- ginal to the central, from the illusory to were built identically by the American ity and travel. As architectural historian the specific. The introduction of the rail- architect R. P. Bridgens, one of 700 or so Inoue Mitsuo explains, this type of space way was a breakthrough in many ways. yatoi (foreign experts) working for the differs radically from the ‘geometric It established not only one of the most Meiji government. Shimbashi Station space’ which can be clearly conceived powerful systematic grids of discipline, was described as, ‘a plain and unassum- through a fixed viewpoint. However, the but also carried the spectacle of moder- ing two-story edifice of wood faced with ‘travel boom’ of the Edo Era, as well as nity through the phantasmagoria of its stone’, and heralded by the Western press the secularization of the arts, gradually sight and sound. Westernization, mod- as, ‘the soundest and most testily con- turned the attention to less spiritual sub- ernization and progress were identified structed building’ and ‘far superior to any ject matters. The meisho taking the form in a remarkably effective manner through other buildings in Yedo’. As we can see of guide books (Edo meishoki, Tokaido steel and the steam engine. As the news- in the iconography of the period, the meishoki, etc.) or print series, aimed to paper Far East wrote in 1872, ‘Until all Tokaido railway stations—all built in provide practical information and a Japan is so closely united by the iron western style—appear as gathering places ‘manga-like’ (cartoon) depiction of fables roads ... prosperity and wealth may in- for foreign and local travellers, and also and episodes along the way. However, crease, and the country become so com- as major interfaces with the new travel the text of these guide books provides a pact and homogenous that it shall mode—trains, rickshaws and horse car- mere enumeration and an imprecise de- become also very great and powerful!’ riages are all represented in the views. scription of the meisho, that seem to have The illusions of the optical devices that The graphic arts were late in catching up been repeatedly attributed the same types fascinated the masses in the Edo Era were with the new perceptions developed of virtues—as Edo-banashi warned, replaced in the Meiji Era by the three- through the speed of railway travel. Their ‘Once you’ve seen one famous place, dimensional, realistic apparatus of rail- subjects included mostly static views of you’ve seen ‘em all’. way travel; the viewpoint moved from the railway stations, or the passage of the lo- bird’s eye view to eye level. Not only comotive through the countryside. Al- the image of the locomotives, but also though there were variations on the

overtones, there were no attempts to rep- of visual illusion. Views change resent the landscape altered by speed. Returning to the visual arts, the Tokaido This task had to be undertaken by an- Like pictures in the turning light (zoet- post-stations were immortalized in the other form, which requires a similar tem- rope) Edo and Meiji Eras, respectively, in poral development as the railway Distance passes as we watch Hiroshige’s Tokaido gojusan tsugi (Fifty- trip—the railway songs. Three Stations of the Tokaido Road) (Fig. The railway songs of the period are still 8) and Kamei Takejiro’s Kaiko Tokaido Railway songs under the influence of Edo’s regional ge- gojusan eki shinkei (True views of the In 1900, the railway songs (tetsudo ography, or the perception of the land as Tokaido) (Fig. 9). shoka), written by the scholar Owada marked by historical or mythological Hiroshige’s famous Tokaido series (pub- Takeki, became very popular among events. Additionally, they cannot dis- lished by Hoeido) was painted after his young Japanese children and teenagers. guise the confusion of place and time first trip along the Tokaido in 1832, on These songs, which comprised a gram- related with railway travel. which he followed the shogun’s annual mar school textbook, helped children convoy delivering horses to Kyoto as a learn historical and geographical facts We can see Shinagawa port and white gift to the emperor. Although his pictures strengthening their national conscious- waves and mountains over the ocean. are greatly inspired by this trip, his inter- ness. However, Meiji citizens, still cap- Are these mountains in Kazusa or in est in landscape representation is artis- tivated by the Edo pursuit of illusionist Boshu? tic, rather than informative. In this sense, escape, saw railway travel as a new type it is not surprising to find that the influ-

Figure 8 Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido Road, Oi River, 1832

24 Japan Railway & Transport Review • September 1997 Copyright © 1997 EJRCF. All rights reserved. Figure 9 True Views of the Tokaido, Oi River 1891–92 attention as a microcosm of man-made ‘objects mixed together, as the goods in the shop of a general dealer’. The heroes in the stories of this period were not specific characters or autobio- graphical referents but rather comic fig- ures, such as Kita and Yaji in Tokaidochu Hizakurige. On the course of the journey, Kita and Yaji not only forget important details of their family background, but also the specificities of their characters seem to be unimportant for the development of the story. This novel is written with little attention to accuracy or detail of the physical surroundings. What about the relationship between the railway establishment as a symbolic structure and the Meiji citizen? The city stations are now accessible to all, regard- less of social status—a notable development from the space division and class ences of previous art (such as Tokaido tryside. These true views (shinkei) are segregation of the Edo Era. As Nagai meisho) or literal descriptions like radically different from the illusionist Kafu’s hero confesses in Kocha no yoru Tokaidochu Hizakurige (Tokaido on scenes presented by Hiroshige, 60 years (Tearoom Evening) (1911), ‘The waiting Foot), are sometimes stronger than earlier. But what is essential in under- room in the station is very comfortable Hiroshige’s reality (compare Fig. 7 to Fig. standing these diametrically different and you can feel at home. There, you 5). In the same way, there are frequent views is the change of the individual sub- don’t need to order beer or tea, as an geographical distortions and seasonal ject—who is producing and consuming obligation to the waitress and you don’t inconsistencies that break the temporal such images—during the transition from need to get angry, while waiting for the linearity of the route. All these prove the the Edo to Meiji Era. rest of your order for 5 minutes. Some- artist’s interest in conveying the atmo- times, I feel very stressed in my study- sphere of the ‘floating world’, rather than room and I cannot concentrate.... In offering a realistic representation of the Subject and Society these cases, I take a light book and I go road. to this waiting room and I sit on the In contrast, Kamei Takejiro’s True views In the Edo images of the Tokaido, we see leather chair.... And in these wide rooms, of the Tokaido in the Meiji Era are the strong influences from the travel litera- there are so many people from different lonely views of Takejiro himself, who ture of the time, as for example social classes, from the elite to the poor. died shortly after he finished his journey Tokaidochu Hizakurige (1802–22) by And there, sometimes I think that I can on foot. The lithographs, based on his comic novelist Jippensha Ikku. As the see the drama of their life’. paintings, but printed in 1892 after his book preface states, one main aspect of Nagai’s hero in the above passage is a death, illustrate the decline of the post the Tokaido’s interest is ‘the songs of the tangible example of the establishment of stations just before the completion of the carriers about the hills’, ‘the songs of the the ‘inner self’ within the framework of railway. We can see old and new means postboys about the sparrows in the bam- modernity. In a society still captured in of travelling (horses and rickshaws in the boo’, and ‘the one-night love-traffic of the the illusionist techniques of escape that countryside; trains in the Tokyo area); the roads’. Therefore, it is not the landscape flourished in the Edo Era, the self-disci- new Okabe Tunnel in Shizuoka Prefec- that is chosen to be viewed in its entirety pline required by the new state is a dra- ture; telegraph poles and wires across the as a natural form, but the way it is re- matic experience affecting directly both country; and several night views that con- flected through human interaction. And society and the individual. The stress on vey the feeling of an abandoned coun- most importantly, the Tokaido attracts the individual development as the founda-

tion of the modern state results in a fun- ment, and commerce, at the city bor- damental division of space between the Space ders—the banks of the River Sumida, or private and public realm. the temple yards. As J. Elissonas has Even the humorist views (Fig. 10) of In the ‘moving culture’ of the Edo Era, noted, ‘The city was viewed in essence Georges Bigot(2) cannot hide the station as the city, periphery, and travel merged into as a mosaic produced by...accidental ar- ‘a dramatic stage’. However, although the one. For the 40% of the Edo population rangement of famous places, with only railway was open to everyone, the func- who were temporary male inhabitants the loosest connecting links between tion of the station could neither create the related to the Sankin kotai system, the city them. In short, the famous places were sense of escape from the social distinction, was a realm of constant displacements. treated as individual sites and not as parts nor easily erase feudal manners and norms. In the popular arts of that period, Edo was of an integrated urban complex’. identified with places of pleasure, amuse- The idea and actual fact of the city as a fleeting entity giving privileges to the marginal and illusory instead of the or- derly, could not easily be accepted by Figure 10 Bigot’s Cartoons of Travel on Tokaido Railway, 1897 the Meiji government, who saw moral danger for the new society. Not only were these places of ‘ill repute’, but they brought the ‘extraordinary’ within dangerous proximity of normal daily life. They were gradually eliminated through a number of plans, such as establishment of modern public parks (Ueno Park) and axial avenues (Ginza). These proposals promoted specific public attitudes associated with new functions and meanings. The newly established city authority was equated with new organs of control, such as City Hall, the post offices, railway stations and banks. These new institutions were symbolized by specific typologies,

Bon voyage (The Archives of Japanese Cartoon History) that became established in the collective memory through their visual distinction as architectural forms. In this sense, the city took on a new identity of formal, Westernized norms, rather than the in- formal and peripheral norms of the Edo Era. This was the foundation of the new urban space and state authority. When Tokyo became the official capital, the direction of terms such as nobori (going up) or jokyo (going up to the capital) changed from Kyoto to Tokyo. However, with abolition of the Sankin kotai system, there was a considerable reduction in Tokyo’s population from over 1 million to 670,000. The return to the provinces re-established the idea of the home town, Drinks service (The Archives of Japanese Cartoon History) or the city-as-home. Shortly afterwards, economic hardship in the provinces and

26 Japan Railway & Transport Review • September 1997 Copyright © 1997 EJRCF. All rights reserved. the promotion of Tokyo as a place of ‘civi- In contrast to the Edo Era, the Meiji sys- the bustling megalopolis that contempo- lization and enlightenment’ created ex- tematization of western technology rary Japanese stations emerged as a ma- tensive migration to Tokyo from all over favouring productivity and progress, re- jor typology of Japanese space. the country. After the Russo-Japanese stricted pleasure to specific times and Contemporary stations mingle together War, inflation and recession led to large- spaces. The railway, the military, the fac- facilities of consumption and places of scale movement of farmers to Tokyo. Be- tory and the school, established the func- release forming a network of multi-func- tween 1898 and 1907, inward migration tional division of time and space, tional urban nodes. This is where the numbered about 50,000 each year, mark- necessary for modernization. The clock systemic grid of modern infrastructures ing the beginning of an intensive urban- at the railway station and the precision parallels the transitory diversions of Edo ization. Tokyo became a place of of the timetable were instrumental in dis- space. I progress and opportunity—a place to ciplining Meiji public spaces. study or to work. Conversely, the prov- Note inces were seen as places of tradition and (1) Japanese names in this article follow Japanese us- were analogous to the past; the railway Transformations age with family name first. formed the link between the two. (2) Georges Bigot, see page 26. In this respect, the railway was an important link, bridging the divisions of Figure notes Time space, time, and function required by the Fig. 1 Author; Fig. 2 Reproduced from Tokaido Meiji system. The new national hierar- Bunken ezu, Vol. 7, Tokyo Bijutsu, 1980, original The literature of the Meiji Era clearly chy divided the country into places of owned by Tokyo National Museum; Fig. 3 Repro- shows this temporal division between fu- production and industrialization, and duced from Tokaido bunken ezu, Chuo Koron ture and past, in comparison to the looser places of consumption and entertain- Bijutsu Shuppan, 1960, original owned by Tokyo perception of time characterizing Edo. ment. The emotional distinction between National Museum; Fig. 4 Original owned by Tenri The Meiji landscape is rendered with places of the future and progress on the University, Sankokan Museum; Fig. 5 Reproduced emotional overtones for the first time. In one side and places of the past and rus- from Meiji Taisho zushi, Chikuma Shobo Publish- Ie (The Family) by Shimazaki Toson, we ticity on the other soon developed into ing Co., Ltd.,1978, original owned by Tokyo Metro- see how the alienating life of Tokyo soon the commercial rhetoric of the furusato politan Central Library; Fig. 6 Reproduced from makes Tokyo’s new residents link their (nostalgia for the hometown). Tokaido meisho zukai, Nihon Zuishitsu hometowns with sentiments of rusticity. The Tokaido Railway in the Meiji Era Taiseikankokai, 1928, original owned by Faculty of These memories of unity with nature and paved the way to urban and economic Engineering Architecture Department Library, Kyoto peaceful life are gradually dissociated development of the region; the pattern University; Fig. 7 Reproduced from Meiji Taisho from the hardships of country life, the ini- was repeated again with the building of zushi, Chikuma Shobo Publishing Co., Ltd.,1978, tial reason for the escape to Tokyo. There- the Tokaido Shinkansen in 1964, and the original owned by Nippon Express Co., Ltd.; Fig. 8 fore, the periphery became the repository growth of the Tokaido megalopolis in the Reproduced from Hiroshige’s Fifty-Three Stations of for sentiments that could not be invested 1970s. It is questionable whether these the Tokaido Road, exhibited at Tokyo Station Gal- in the western novelties of Tokyo. later developments overcame the previ- lery; Fig. 9 Original owned by Tenri University, The efficiency and low cost of the rail- ous dichotomies or managed to defeat the Sankokan Museum; Fig. 10 Reproduced from Bigot ways transformed the idea of mobility. gravitation of Tokyo. sobyoshu, Iwanami, 1995, original owned by The The aimless, time-consuming journey of But it is through the intensive mobility of Archives of Japanese Cartoon History the Edo Era, was replaced by travel for specific reasons—higher classes sightseeing, factory girls working, farm- Jilly Traganou ers’ migrating, etc. Each region assumed a specific character—Kyoto for culture, Jilly Traganou is a Greek architect presently on a Japan Foundation Fellowship at Kyoto University, Hakone and Atami for holidays for the which she also attended on a Japan Ministry of Education scholarship from 1991 to 1993. She is currently a PhD candidate at the Department of Architecture at the University of Westminister (UK) higher classes and foreigners, Kuwana researching the transformations of the Tokaido from a highway to the Megalopolis. Her publica- and Yokkaichi for new industry. tions include, The Fireworks of Edo, Architronic (http://www.saed.kent.edu/Architronic/v6n1/), 1997. The excesses of Edo were restrained by the Meiji state bringing new discipline.