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The Yale University Library reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order, if, in its judgement fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law. 137 C.F.R. §201.14 2018 Studies in Modern Japanese Literature Essays and Translations in Honor of Edwin McClellan EDITED BY DENNIS WASHBURN AND ALAN TANSMAN Ann Arbor Center for Japanese Studies The University of Michigan 1997 Gesaku Authors and the Ansei Earthquake of 1855 ANDREW MARKUS The Ansei earthquake of 1855 was by no means the most de- structive earthquake of its generation: a devastating series of shocks between 23 and 26 December 1854 affected the entire Pacific coast- line of Honshu and generated tsunami large enough to be detected in San Diego, San Francisco, and Astoria in the Oregon Territory.' Nor was it the most destructive earthquake to affect the city of Edo: in terms of magnitude, the Genroku earthquake of 31 December 1703 was perhaps thirty times as powerful.2 The Ansei earthquake, however, laid waste or damaged severely large portions of Edo, the commercial, cultural, and printing capital of its day no less than the shogunal capi- tal, and achieved a notoriety far greater than the more destructive, but provincial, Shinano earthquake of 1847 or Tókaid6 earthquakes of 1854. Its chronological position as the apparent culmination of a series of catastrophic earthquakes in the 1840s or as the climax of a period of dramatic economic and international uncertainty also en- sured its prominence among contemporary natural disasters of equal or greater absolute proportions. The destruction wrought by the Ansei earthquake, amply at- tested in formal and informal records, in prints and sketches, is stag- gering. Paradoxically, the same catastrophe was a source of furious creativity among professional and amateur artists and authors. Per- haps no other single event during the Edo period inspired such a tor- rent of response, as if the devastation compelled, by way of compensa- tion, redoubled efforts to knit more firmly the fabric of contemporary culture that had been so roughly torn. The most accurate accounts of the earthquake and its imme- diate aftermath are probably the dry reports forwarded by han repre- sentatives in Edo to their home provinces or dispassionate methodi- cal compilations like Buk5 chidó no ki (Record of the Edo Earthquake; completed 11 December 1855) by Saitó Gesshin (1804-78) or Yaburemado no ki (Torn Window Record; completed 22 November 53 54 MARKUS GESAKUAUTFIORS AND THE ANSEI EARTHQUAKE OF 1855 55 1855), possibly by Kitamura Nobuyo (Intei; 1783-1856) .s Factually less No completely accurate figures are available for the extent of reliable but of greater value in assessing the social dimensions of the property damage. A preliminary report tendered to the city magis- cataclysm are the more popular outpourings of prints, pamphlets, trates describes a total loss of 150,000 dwellings and 1,400 kura, or zuihitsu (miscellanies), ballads, lampoons, and ephemera of all sorts storehouses; a less judicious, anonymous flyer reports the collapse of that appeared in 1855 and 1856. The overwhelming majority of this 700,000,000 kura in Edo alone.' Anxiety about the international situa- material is entirely anonymous, and there is little chance of determin• tion, especially the foreign pressure on the country to open its ports, ing its creators. However, certain productions can be identified as the was indirectly responsible for some of the devastation, since large quan- work of the existing gesaku (native prose) "industry," the corps of popu- tities of gunpowder stored in magazines throughout the city exploded lar authors, artists, and publishers whose creations were among the violently.' On the other hand, complacency proved harmful as well, most characteristic products of Edo. The resiliency of this industry since the lack of any major, recent earthquake had encouraged the and the varied responses of its members to the disaster will be the construction of vulnerable two-story buildings. One theory, in fact, primary topic here. Full understanding of the context of their work maintained that Edo was permanently immune from the danger of requires some mention of the dimensions of the Ansei earthquake earthquakes, since the vast number of wells sunk inside its limits pro- and some discussion of contemporary ephemera whose creators can- vided more than adequate venting for pent-up "vapors" in the earth.10 not be identified. Entire cho, or residential districts, were leveled by tremors or the ensuing fires; formal accounts of the disaster devote many pages THE EARTHQUAKE ITSELF to the grim inventory of lost sectors. Certain larger structures—nota- bly the central hall of the Kinrytisan (Asakusa Kannon) Temple and The first and most destructive tremor of the Ansei earthquake Tomioka Hachiman Shrine in Fukagawa—remained largely undam- occurred shortly after ten P.M. on 11 November 1855 (Ansei 2.10.2) as aged, despite the near-total destruction of their surrounding precincts. most citizens were either retiring for the night or enjoying their first Not surprisingly, popular opinion viewed the preservation of these sleep. All sources mention, after an initial convulsion of perhaps fif- sacred edifices as direct evidence of divine intervention." Conversely, teen seconds, a deafening roar, as row upon row of houses collapsed rumor interpreted the crumbling of the mitsuke, or stone watchtow- like a file of shógi (chessmen).4 Through the mushrooming clouds of ers, around the perimeter of Edo Castle as an omen of the imminent dust and debris, survivors able to reach an elevation noted fires in collapse of Tokugawa authority.'2 over thirty locations burning throughout the night. Fortunately, the Whether because of greater proximity to the epicenter of the winds were calm and most of these fires were under control by morn- earthquake, or softer alluvial soil, or whether because of a higher resi- ing. No major tidal waves resulted from the quake, but landslides and dential density, poorer quality of building construction, and a lack of flooding were not uncommon, and the TamagawaJósui canal, a major open spaces for refuge, the plebeian areas closest to the Sumida River conduit for the city, was badly damaged.' were the most severely affected. Destruction was greatest in the Throughout the night of 11 November, at least twenty after- Shitamachi (downtown) districts of Honjo, Fukagawa, Kameido, and shocks struck Edo; the persistence of residual tremors was one of the Asakusa. In contrast, Yamanote (uptown) districts like Yotsuya, Akasaka, notorious characteristics of the Ansei earthquake.' Kitamura Nobuyo and Ichigaya, topographically as well as economically superior, were estimates that in the tenth month alone, some eighty perceptible trem- far less susceptible to the worst effects of the catastrophe.' While the ors affected Edo; it was not until the end of the eleventh month (i.e., Ansei earthquake deeply affected all sectors of the population and all mid January 1856) that the shaking diminished to an unremarkable facets of urban life, its "social bias" against the least affluent classes of frequency and intensity.' Unwilling to rebuild or even reenter houses citizens is noteworthy. demolished or seriously weakened by this series of jolts, many citizens No reliable statistics are available for the casualties of the event, of Edo preferred to live in makeshift huts or lean-tos constructed of though here again virtually every account has its own firm opinion. An whatever building materials were at hand. Efforts to reestablish neigh- official bakufu tabulation, compiled from figures submitted by the nanushi, borhood order or provide emergency relief through streets congested or "headmen," of each ch-o, specifies with great precision 4,293 casualties with rubble and encampments of huts were by necessity slow. and 2,759 injured.i4 The figure only comprehends casualties in chiinin 56 MARKUS GESAKUAUTHORS AND THE ANSEI EARTHQUAKE OF 1855 57 (townsman) areas under the jurisdiction of the machi-bugfo (civic 'nag. ceremony; geisha; halls for music lessons; official bureaus; istrates); a more reasonable estimate, asserts one chronicler, includ• shamisen makers; dealers in foreign goods; book-lenders; almanac peddlers; pleasure boat operators; gilt-foil embroi- ing clerical and samurai class casualties, would be some three times derers; workers with gilt on lacquer; laiko-mochi (jesters); this figure.15 Rumors of much greater loss of life—figures of 200,000, kept women; shops for toiletries; silk drapers.25 270,000, or even 900,000—were not uncommon.10 Recovery from the calamity was for the most part left to the As the listing suggests, entertainers of all descriptions and suppliers personal initiative of the victims. Possibly as a measure to prevent ri- of luxury items were the foremost victims of the disruption of normal ots or pilfering,