Abstract
This famous piece, with its dramatic illustrations, harrowing narrative, empirical detail, and episodes of black humor, offers a report of the disastrous triple holocaust that engulfed Edo in the winter of 1657. This fire annihilated most of the city and resulted in over 100,000 fatalities. The author, Asai Ryōi (1612?–1691), a Kyoto cleric, assumes the persona of an eye-witness, though he seems to have relied mostly on documentary evidence. Besides rendering a largely accurate depiction of the destruction and horror wrought by the fire, he weaves in fanciful incidents in which he pokes fun at the narrator’s actions during the catastrophe. Despite its hybrid nature, this zuihitsu continues to be one of the most important historical chronicles of a catastrophe that would shape the physical and social environment of Edo for decades to come.
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- 1.
This is March 2, 1657, on the modern calendar.
- 2.
Gyokuro-sō (vol. 1, pp. 306–308) gives detailed statistics and reports that 107,046 persons perished. A convenient compendium of documents recording Edo fires can be found in Tōkyō-shi shikō, hensai-hen, vols. 4 and 5. Records regarding the 1657/1 blazes are given in vol. 4, pp. 112–235. For a discussion of the fire and its effects, as well as an annotated text of Musashi abumi, see Sakamaki Kōta and Kuroki Takashi, “Musashi abumi” kōchū to kenkyū.
- 3.
See William Kelly, “Incendiary Actions.” On changes in building codes see William H. Coaldrake, “Edo Architecture and Tokugawa Law.”
- 4.
Otogi bōko is a collection of sixty-eight tales, twenty-one of which are translations and adaptations of stories included in the collection of Chinese moralistic tales Jiandeng xinhua (J., Sentō shinwa, “New Tales Told While Trimming the Wick”) by Qu Zongi (or Qu You), published in 1378. An English translation of Ryōi’s version of one tale, “The Peony Lantern” (“Botan tōki”), can be found in Shirane Haruo, ed., Early Modern Japanese Literature, vol. 1, pp. 33–38.
- 5.
In her Edo shichū keisei-shi no kenkyū (pp. 312–328) the historian Mizue Renko awards high marks to Musashi abumi for accuracy.
- 6.
See Ise monogatari, p. 119 (section 13); in English Helen Craig McCullough, trans., Tales of Ise, p. 79. See also ibid., pp. 206–207; and Peter Kornicki, “Narrative of a Catastrophe,” pp. 349–350.
- 7.
The Kitano Tenmangū, today at Kamigyō-ku Bakuro-chō in Kyoto, is thought to have been founded twice, in 940 and 947. It enshrined the agitated spirit of the unjustly exiled bureaucrat, scholar, and poet Sugawara no Mishizane (845–903), considered an incarnation of the deity Tenjin, a divinity of wisdom. The Yushima Tenjin Shrine in Edo (Map 3; today Yushima 3-30-1) was founded in the year 458 to enshrine Ameno tajikara o-no-mikoto, a deity associated with strength. In 1355, the building was expanded to enshrine Sugawara no Michizane as well. See Illustration 6.7.
- 8.
This Nichiren-school temple, founded in 1572 in Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefecture, was brought to the grounds of Edo Castle in 1590 and thereafter experienced repeated fires and relocations. In 1636, it stood at Hongō Maruyama (Kikusaka-chō, today approximately Hongō 4); later it was transferred to the site at which it was located in 1657 (today approximately Hongō 5-18). It is not clearly designated on any map preceding the Great Meireki Fire. The site where I have placed it on Map 3 is only marked as that of a temple, but charts appearing several years later positively identify the institution standing here as Honmyōji . Today the temple is located at Sugamo 5-35-6.
- 9.
Daimyo and other warrior worthies usually possessed several city residences often identified by the name of the family or clan head, or even just by a hereditary title. Pinpointing the individual heading a house at the time of the fire is sometimes difficult. On the 1644–1645 map Shōhō nenkan Edo zue Toda Ujinobu is referred to by the name of his father Toda Saemon (Ujikane, 1576–1655), who was Uneme-no-kami and also assumed the name Saemon.
- 10.
On Shōhō nenkan Edo zue, he is referred to by the name of the father Naitō Tadashige (1586–1653).
- 11.
The appellation “lord Tsugaru” (Tsugaru-dono) signified the head of the Hirosaki domain (Aomori Prefecture). The nominal lord of the domain at the moment of the Great Meireki Fire was Tsugaru Nobumasa (1646–1710), only ten years old.
- 12.
At the time of the fire, Satake Yoshitaka (1609–1672) headed this house and it is he who bore the title “Shuri” found in the maps on which Maps 3 and 4 are based. Takajō-machi here probably refers to Moto-takajō-machi (see Map 7 for approximate location; today perhaps Kanda Ogawa-machi 1 or 2), popularly thus named because falcon trainers (takajō) lived there. The term daimyō kōji denoted especially the area immediately to the east of Edo Castle (Map 5), but occasionally referred to other concentrations of daimyo residences.
- 13.
Saya-chō stood at today’s Nihonbashi Honkoku-chō 1, but this is confusing, for another Saya-chō was located three blocks north of Kyōbashi. Here and below it often remains unclear if by the term chō (machi) the author meant a block or an entire ward (each ward usually contained several blocks), for he uses the same ideograph to refer to both. In translating, I have chosen the term that seems most appropriate.
- 14.
The spots marked [4.8] are indicated only as houses of “officers” (yoriki) at Hatchōbori, but patrolmen probably lived there too. On the nature of yoriki and dōshin in later years, see Anna Beerens, trans., “Interview with a Bakumatsu Official,” (2), pp. 176–177, 179–181.
- 15.
“Commissioner of ships” (o-funa bugyō) was a title awarded to Mukai Masatsuna (1556–1624), who passed on the position to his son, the bannerman Mukai Tadakatsu (1582–1641), who in turn conveyed it on to his fifth son Mukai Masakata (Hyōbu, 1621–1674). It is Masakata whose residence is indicated as 4.9. In later years, the shogunate designated certain officials as “heads of ships” (funate-gashira), and these men, along with their underlings, were responsible for overseeing the bakufu navy.
- 16.
Indicated on the 1652–1653 map Bushū kokai Edo no zu (hereafter “map of 1653”) as the “lower residence” of Echizen Shōshō.
- 17.
Reiganji is a Pure Land temple founded in 1624 at Reiganjima, a patch of reclaimed land near Nihonbashi. In 1658 it was moved to its present site at Shirakawa 1-3-32 in Kōtō-ku.
- 18.
The Kanda Myōjin Shrine was supposedly founded in 730, and relocated in 1603 and 1616 (today it stands at Soto-kanda 2-16-2). A Kaizenji written with the ideographs given here does not seem to have existed, but a homonymous Rinzai-sect Kaizenji was founded in 1624 at Tsumagoi. Shortly preceding the 1657 fire, this temple was located to the north of the Kanda Myōjin Shrine. After burning down in 1657, it was moved to Asakusa Shin-torigoe-chō and today it stands at Matsugaya 3-3-3. In vol. 2 below other apparently incorrect ideographs, probably referring to the identical temple, are given for Kaizenji.
- 19.
Two Zaimoku-chō existed in this area (a third stood in the Asakusa region). The Zaimoku-chō in the south, also called Hon-zaimoku-chō, comprised eight or nine blocks running from the southern end of Edobashi (Map 4.14, Map 2) all the way to Hatchōbori (today spread over the Nihonbashi and Kyōbashi areas). A little to the north, another Zaimoku-chō, more accurately known as Shin-zaimoku-chō (Map 8), stood at what is today Nihonbashi Horidome-chō.
- 20.
In 1592, with the fall of the Hōjō clan, Seiganji at Odawara (Kanagawa Prefecture) was relocated to Hon-shirogane-chō in Edo, and then in 1596 to Suda-chō. It counted as one of the four most important Edo Pure Land temples. After burning down in 1657, it was repositioned at Kita-teramachi in Asakusa (later called Asakusa Tajima-chō, today Nishi-asakusa 2-14-5).
- 21.
After the fire, Nishi Honganji, a Jōdo Shinshū temple built in 1621, was moved from Yokoyama-chō to its current location at Tsukiji 3-15-1.
- 22.
Tōri-chō was the main street running north and south from Nihonbashi. Northwards it extended to Kanda Suda-chō; southwards it led to Kanesugi Bridge at Shiba. Denma-chō here probably refers to the area split into Ōdenma-chō [4.20] and slightly to the north Kodenma-chō [4.21] (the site of the Edo prison).
- 23.
The veracity of this account is confirmed by Zacharias Wagenaer (1614–1666), a merchant and opperhoofd of Dejima, present in Edo at the time of the fire. According to citations from his diary quoted by the Dutch teacher and author Arnoldus Montanus (1625–1683), “Getting out of Doors, they found themselves in great danger; for the Streets being full every where with Wains, Chests, Trunks, House-hold goods, and People thronging between them, that they were not able to pass either one way or the other. Here they lay heap’d, being tumbled one upon the other; there they were squeez’d betwixt the Goods; yonder with a hideous Cry they throng’d their way through; some being trodden to death, some their Breath squeez’d out of the Bodies, and other crawling over all.” See the 1670 translation of Arnoldus Montanus, Atlas Japannensis, pp. 409–410.
- 24.
Ishide Tatewaki was a hereditary name or title. The first Tatewaki (?–1613, Honda Tsunemasa), evidently a native of what is today Chiba Prefecture, had been placed in charge of prisoners by Tokugawa Ieyasu. The best-known Tatewaki, and the man of this anecdote, was Ishide Yoshifuka (1615–1689), also famed as a renga poet, nativist scholar, author, and annotator of the Tale of Genji . In 1613 the prison, in fact a detention facility measuring in excess of 8600 square meters, had been relocated from outside Tokiwabashi (Map 5) to Kodenma-chō. Prisoners were also released on the occasions of other fires. See, for example, Tenna shōi-shū , pp. 175–177, relating the events of the fire of 1682; also the entry from 10/5 of “Disaster Days.” For a discussion of the veracity of this event see Kuroki Takashi, Meireki no taika, pp. 80–85.
- 25.
A temple by this name does not seem to have existed. The reference (written in syllabary) is probably to Zenkeiji, a Nichiren-school temple in Kanda founded in 1595 and later relocated to Asakusa Shin-teramachi (today Asakusa 4-6-6). Zenkeiji was commonly known as “Ishide Tatewaki’s ancestor.” See Gofunai jisha bikō, vol. 5, p. 116.
- 26.
The Asakusa Gate (Asakusa Gomon or Asakusa Mitsuke-mon, also known as Masugata-mon), and its lookout stood at the northeastern end of the outer moat of Edo Castle, a little to the west of where the Kanda River met the Sumida River (today Asakusabashi 1-1). The gate counted as one of the thirty-six Edo Castle gates. It was erected in 1636 on an area vacated by the Hatsunemori shrine, and led to the Ōshū-kaidō, the road that ran to Sensōji and onward to the northern provinces.
- 27.
Such enclosed rectangular plazas (masugata) stood at many castle gates. Enemy forces wishing to enter the city first needed to pass through the outer gate of the plaza and then, while under fire, turn ninety degrees and break through the main gate.
- 28.
From the geographical position of the residences, it would seem more likely that what burned down was the daimyo house indicated on the map of 1653 as “Hosokawa Genba[-no-kami]” (Hosokawa Okimoto, 1604–1643; [4.24?]). Another residence of Hosokawa Tatewaki is indicated on the 1656 map Shinten Edo no zu (hereafter “map of 1656”) immediately to the south of the residence of Kinoshita Iga-no-kami [6.51].
- 29.
Nichirinji originally stood at Shibasaki (today Ōtemachi 2). It was relocated many times, and after the fire of 1657 was repositioned in Asakusa (today at Nishi-asakusa 3-15-6). Honzenji is probably Honseiji (see also vol. 2 below), yet the map of 1656 also clearly writes Honzenji and thus gives pause for thought. Honseiji was a Pure Land temple built in Edo in 1595 at Yaesu as a branch of the Honseiji at Odawara (Kanagawa Prefecture). In 1606 it was relocated to Bakuro-chō and then in 1682 to its current site at Kiyosumi 3-4-23 in Kōtō-ku. Chisokuin is found on the maps of 1653 and 1656 at Shin-nawa-chō 2 (today Nihonbashi Honchō 4), near the Kodenma-chō prison. Later it was evidently transferred to Yushima, and then in 1688 to outside the Kandabashi Gate (Map 7), where it was renamed Gojiin. “Kongōin” is probably an orthographical error for Unkōin (here and in the map of 1653 given in syllabary), an important temple named after Tokugawa Ieyasu’s consort Acha-no-tsubone (1555–1637), who funded its construction at Bakuro-chō in 1611. After burning down in 1657 it was relocated to Kanda Moto-iwai-chō (today Iwamoto-chō 2) and then in 1682 to its current site in the Fukagawa area (today Miyoshi 2-17-14).
- 30.
Ushijima Shinden was located in the Honjo area. It seems to have extended southward from the Ryōgoku area (where, as becomes clear below, Ekōin was later built) to perhaps what is today Shin-ōhashi 1 and Tokiwa 1.
- 31.
The ōbanshū (ōgoban ) were the shogun’s personal guards, in charge of Edo Castle, Nijō Castle in Kyoto, and Osaka Castle. Denzūin was a Pure Land temple originally called Denbōin and renamed in honor of Tokugawa Ieyasu’s mother. Already in 1414, it stood at Muromachi (Map 7). It was rebuilt in 1608 and is today located at Koishikawa 3-14-6. The area in question is here called Shin-takajō-machi (later Koishikawa Hisakata-chō, today approximately Koishikawa 4 and 5) in contrast to Moto-takajō-machi. Gyokuro-sō states that the fire broke out at a rowhouse at Koishikawa on the grounds of the lord of Mito, mentioned below (see Gyokuro-sō, vol. 1, p. 305).
- 32.
Kichijōji is a Sōtō-sect temple founded in 1458 under the auspices of Ōta Dōkan. Originally it stood near the Wadakura Gate of Edo Castle, but in 1591, it was removed to Surugadai (or Kandadai, today approximately Hongō 1-3, near the southern end of what is now the Suidōbashi subway station). After 1657 it was relocated to what has become Hon-komagome 3-19-17.
- 33.
The middle counselor of Mito (Mito no chūnagon) was Tokugawa Yorifusa (1603–1661), eleventh son of Tokugawa Ieyasu, and from 1609, first lord of the Mito domain of Hitachi Province (today Ibaraki Prefecture). His “upper residence” in Edo included the Kōrakuen garden, built in 1629 (today Kōraku 1). Montanus reports that Zacharias Wagenaer went into the city at daybreak, “where he found all the South part of Jedo lying in Ashes, and the Fire raging with more fierceness than the day before; the Flame about Noon taking hold of the Emperors Castle: Here the great Gates were burnt from the Hinges; Half the Watchhouses tumbling into the Moats, were there quench’d, and the remaining part thereof became Fewel for the Fire. About the Evening the Imperial Palace also began to kindle: The Flame never appear’d more terrible, than when it blazed out of the high Turrets; for it seem’d to threaten the Sky. This Spoil went on so ragingly, that the Emperor and his Council had scarce time to secure themselves in the Play-houses built on the North side of the Castle.” See Montanus, Atlas Japannensis, p. 411.
- 34.
Tenjuin (Sen-hime, 1597–1666) was the daughter of the second shogun, Tokugawa Hidetada. She first married Toyotomi Hideyori (1593–1615) and after his death, at the fall of Osaka Castle, the daimyo Honda Tadatoki (1596–1626). Her residence stood at what is today Kudan 1 and Fujimi 1 in Chiyoda-ku.
- 35.
The fourth shogun Tokugawa Ietsuna (1641–1680, r. 1651–1680) had two younger brothers, Tsunashige (1644–1678) and Tsunayoshi (1646–1709, the fifth shogun). The former bore the title “Same-no-kami” (“Captain of the Left Division of Bureau of Horses”), the latter “Ume-no-kami” (“Captain of the Right Division of Bureau of Horses”). In the days of the ritsuryō laws, tenkyū referred to the chiefs of the imperial horse stables.
- 36.
Takatsukasa Takako (Honriin, 1602–1674). She was the wife of the third shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu, but shortly after her marriage (1625) left (or was ejected from) the “inner quarters” of Edo Castle. She set up her own residence in the Fukiage sector (i.e., northern and eastern section) of the Edo Castle grounds and changed her name to Naka-no-maru sama (or tono).
- 37.
The main compound (Honmaru), second compound, and third compound of the castle were numbered from west to east.
- 38.
The daimyo Andō Shigenobu (1557–1621) was Tsushima-no-kami; the map of 1656, however, names the house of the daimyo Andō Ukyō (Shigenaga, 1600–1657), whose mother was Shigenobu’s daughter. Shigenaga was adopted as Shigenobu’s son.
- 39.
Various authors have speculated who this might be. Perhaps he was one Matsudaira Tsushima[-no-kami?] who lived next to Tsuchiya Minbu [5.13].
- 40.
At the time of the fire, the office of the northern city magistrates was located near Tokiwabashi (Map 5) and its gate; the office of the southern city magistrates stood on the inner side of Kajibashi (Map 5).
- 41.
Nakagawa Hansa probably refers to the house of the bannerman Nakagawa Hanzaemon Tadakatsu (?–1629) a vassal of Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and Ieyasu. His son and grandson also used the name Hanzaemon, and at the time of the fire, the house was headed by his grandson Shigekatsu (1629–1673). Ina no Hanzaemon was the bannerman Ina Tadakatsu (1617–1665), who from 1653 to 1665 served as the “district magistrate” of the eastern provinces (Kantō gundai). Amano Gorō-daifu was Amano Masayo (?–1664), in charge of the shogunal kitchen (gozen-ban). The map of 1656 indicates an Ōno Gorō-daifu, which I take to be an orthographical error for Amano Gorō-daifu.
- 42.
This may refer to the spot given as odaiku-goya (“office of official carpenters”) in the map of 1653, but as “Kannon’in” in the map of 1656. A map of 1666 indicates an osaiku-sho near what is indicated on Map 5 as the residence of Matsudaira Kaga [5.4]. See Nihonbashi-minami (Edo), published by Urokogata-ya Kahee.
- 43.
The map of 1656 indicates the residence of the daimyo Toda Uneme[-no-kami] (1600–1681), who also used the name Samon. Ujikane’s son Ujinobu was the head of the house from 1651.
- 44.
He possessed a residence or storehouse on the waterfront several blocks to the east [6.1], but this is probably not the residence in question here.
- 45.
He had no issue and by 1657 the house had been abolished.
- 46.
No such person seems to have existed. I take the indication to be an orthographical error for the bannerman Sakai Tadashige (1598 or 1601–1666), who bore the title Nagato-no-kami.
- 47.
The map of 1656 gives the name Ono Shimōsa[-no-kami], probably an orthographical error.
- 48.
The text calls him “Mezu” instead of “Yonekitsu.” On the 1656 map, he is erroneously given as Umezu Kuranosuke.
- 49.
The map of 1656 gives the name Makita Ukon, probably an orthographical error.
- 50.
The father, Ide Masatsugu, was also named Jinsuke but had already died in 1609. Ide Masanari was in fact named Jinnosuke.
- 51.
The map of 1653 indicates that his residence stood at the lower half of what is indicated in the 1656 map as the residence of Ide Jinsuke [5.52].
- 52.
The 1656 map incorrectly writes the ideograph of nui as oru. The 1653 map gives nui.
- 53.
The position of his residence is given as a blank space in the map of 1656 but indicated on the 1653 map.
- 54.
Manase Dōsan (given name Shōsei) was a renowned doctor who was granted the family name Imaōji by the emperor. His adopted son Imaōji Gensaku (1549–1631+), personal physician of shogun Tokugawa Hidetada, retained the name Dōsan, as did Gensaku’s heirs.
- 55.
The official equestrian grounds probably stood inside the Babasaki Gate, today located to the east of the outer moat of the imperial palace between Hibiya and Wadakura Bridge (Wadakurabashi, Map 5). In 1657 the grounds were perhaps situated near the horse stables [5.70]. For the ideographs now read “Yaesu” the text supplies the older reading Yayōsu (sometimes also read Yanyōzu). This spot stood alongside the outer moat of today’s imperial palace, and reached from Wadakura Bridge southward to Hibiya (approximately the southeastern tip of the moat as indicated on Map 5).
- 56.
This figure seems vastly exaggerated.
- 57.
Judging from the location, Matsudaira Dewa-no-kami may be a mistake for Matsudaira Tonomo-no-kami (Matsudaira Tadafusa, 1619–1700) whose residence I have indicated as [6.6?]; similarly Matsudaira Tajima-no-kami possessed a residence at [5.36], but since the location in question lay to the west or southwest of Edo Castle, the site mentioned in the text is probably another residence (perhaps of the identical daimyo).
- 58.
The author here uses a metaphor referring to the city of Xianyang, the capital of the Chinese Qin dynasty. It was here that in 206 BCE, as the Qin dynasty came to an end, the warlord Xiang Ji (or Xiang Yu, 232–202 BCE) supposedly torched the sumptuous but never completed Epang palace. Recent research indicates, however, that no such fire ever occurred. The Sannō Gongen Shrine is today the Hie Jinja at Nagata-chō 2-10-5. The Hirakawa Tenjin is today the Hirakawa Tenmangū at Hirakawa-chō 1-7-5.
- 59.
Correctly Danjō-shōhitsu. In fact, in 1645 Sadakatsu’s son Tsunakatsu (Harima-no-kami, 1639–1664) had become lord of the domain, and it is he who is indicated on the 1656 map.
- 60.
At the time of the fire, the family was headed by Mōri Tsunahiro (1639–1689) who also bore the title Nagato-no-kami. The “lower residence” of the Mōri clan is listed again below (see [6.66]). It remains uncertain whether this is the identical edifice or not, for no other is found on maps of the day.
- 61.
Both Date Masamune (1567–1636) and his son Tadamune bore the title Mutsu-no-kami. Both men also assumed the name Matsudaira Mutsu-no-kami, and I have guessed that [6.9] is the residence to which the map of 1656 refers (slightly to the east lies yet another “middle residence”). Location [6.65] indicates Masamune’s “middle residence” (at the time he was already twenty years in his grave), and [6.68] a “lower residence,” which may have been used as a storehouse.
- 62.
He is indicated on the map of 1656 as Sōma Nagato[-no-kami], probably referring to his grandfather Yoshitane (1548–1635). His father Toshitane (1581–1625) also bore the title Daizen-no-suke.
- 63.
On the 1656 map, Matsudaira Aki[-no-kami].
- 64.
Matsudaira Yorizumi did not become the lord of a domain until 1670. This name may be an error for Matsudaira Ukyō[-no-taifu], for the map of 1656 indicates [6.33] as the residence of a Matsudaira Ukyō. In this case the man in question would be Matsudaira Yorishige (1622–1695), who assumed the title “Ukyō taifu” in 1638.
- 65.
The bannerman Akita Suehisa only assumed the title “Awaji-no-kami” in 1658 (see Kansei chōshū shoka-fu, vol. 4, p. 339). The 1656 map, however, already indicates the residence of an “Akita Awaji-no-kami.” The map of 1653, however, marks the same residence as “Akita Kawachi[-no-kami],” which would refer to the daimyo Akita Toshisue (1598–1649). The latter seems more likely.
- 66.
Correctly Kōzuke-no-suke. On the map of 1656, the residence identified is that of his father Hotta Kaga[-no-kami] (Masamori, 1609–1651).
- 67.
The 1653 map indicates he resided in what is the northern section of [5.73] (the property of Mizuno [Dai-]kenmotsu).
- 68.
Sakai Tadatomo was the son of the daimyo Sakai Tadakatsu (1587–1662). In 1649 he was, for unknown reasons, disowned by his father and sentenced to house arrest.
- 69.
Atago was a hill poised between the Toranomon and Onarimon gates. Further to the south, running north/south between [6.45] and [6.47], stood a street known as the “Atago-shita daimyo lane.”
- 70.
On the map of 1656, Saemon-no-suke.
- 71.
He is indicated on the 1656 map by the name of his adopted son Ōmura Inaba[-no-kami] (Suminaga, 1636–1706).
- 72.
He is indicated on the map of 1656 by the name of his son, Nakagawa Yamashiro[-no-kami] (1615–1681).
- 73.
He is indicated on the 1656 map by the name of his grandson Uemon (Naotsugu, 1623–1658), from another branch of the family. The 1653 map gives Hitotsuyanagi Kenmotsu.
- 74.
He is indicated on the map of 1656 by the name of his grandson Toranosuke (Haruyori, 1650–1657), who became a daimyo and head of the house in 1651.
- 75.
The map of 1656 erroneously gives Ukyō instead of Sakyō.
- 76.
Nobuhide took the name Fukansai after retiring as a lay Buddhist monk. A “lower residence” of the Sakuma house is indicated on the southern side two blocks south of 6.51, but I have not been able to ascertain if Fukansai or his successors lived there.
- 77.
The residences of Matsudaira and Kamei stood somewhat southeast of the lower right-hand corner of Map 6.
- 78.
The Pure Land temple Zōjōji, which was relocated in 1598 to what is today Shiba-kōen 4-7-35, was the Tokugawa clan’s family temple in Edo and contained many of their mausolea. The Sangedatsu-mon stands to the east of the main temple hall.
- 79.
The Shiba Shinmei Shrine (after 1872, Shiba Daijingū), was supposedly founded in 1005 and now stands at Shiba Daimon 1-12-7. In Buddhist homa invocations small cedar sticks are burned.
- 80.
This figure too seems vastly exaggerated.
- 81.
This plaza (masugata) at Kanda probably refers to the one located on the inside of Sujikai Bridge (Map 3). For a nineteenth-century depiction see Edo meisho zue, vol. 1, pp. 96–97.
- 82.
Gotō Genzaemon refers to the successor of Gotō Nuinosuke (Gotō Masukatsu, 1585–?), the second son of Gotō Tadamasa (also Genzaemon, 1557–1614). Masakatsu and his descendants served as the bakufu’s official procurers of clothing. The family residence stood on the southern end of Ikkoku Bridge (see Map 4; today Yaesu 1 in Chūō-ku).
- 83.
The Higashi Honganji was a Pure Land temple founded in 1591 at what is now Kanda Awaji-chō 2. In 1609/3, it was removed to Kanda Myōjin-shita, and after the fire, to its current location at Nishi-asakusa 1-5-5. The map of 1653 indicates a “monzeki” [3.12], perhaps in reference to this temple.
- 84.
Though written with a different second ideograph than what the text gives here, this was a Pure Land temple founded in 1590, relocated first to Bakuro-chō, and after the fire, to Asakusa (today Nishi-asakusa 3-14-1). The map of 1653 indicates an empty space where it stood.
- 85.
Again, this may be an error for Unkōin at Bakuro-chō, or else a reference to Kongōji, a temple lying somewhat northwest of Denzūin (Map 3).
- 86.
Or Mirokuji. It was an important Edo Shingon-school temple founded in 1610 at Takajō-machi and relocated several times. During the fire, it stood at Bakuro-chō, but in 1689, it was removed to the Honjo area. Today it is located at Tatekawa 1-4-13 in Sumida-ku.
- 87.
This reference remains to me a mystery. At least two temples by this name existed in Edo, though both lay far away, in today’s Shinagawa-ku and Kita-ku.
- 88.
If written with a different, though homophonous ideograph for sen, this refers to a Pure Land temple that stood at Bakuro-chō in 1657 and was thereafter moved to Asakusa, a little to the west of Kikuya-bashi.
- 89.
Or Shugenji. Written with different ideographs, this was a Sōtō-sect temple, today at Matsugaya 1-6-17 in Taitō-ku.
- 90.
This was a Jōdo Shinshū temple founded in Shinagawa in 1546, then transferred to the Bakuro-chō area, and relocated to Asakusa after the 1657 fire (today Moto-asakusa 2-11-3).
- 91.
This Shingon temple was founded in 1480 and transferred to Kodenma-chō in 1590. After the fire, it was relocated to Asakusa (today Moto-Asakusa 1-15-8).
- 92.
A Hōonji lay slightly west of Zōjōji, but the temple in question here is no doubt the one near Hatchōbori [4.52]. It was a Jōdo Shinshū temple, founded in Shimōsa Province (today Chiba Prefecture) in 1214 and conveyed to Edo in 1602, where it was again relocated several times. After the 1657 fire, it was moved elsewhere, and in 1806, it was installed at its current location at Higashi-ueno 6-13-13.
- 93.
Also, and evidently more correctly, Rōseiji. A Nichiren-school temple, founded in 1574, it was moved to Shiba Nihon’enoki-chō (today Takanawa 3) after the 1657 fire. In 1910 it was transferred to its current location at Koyama 3-21-6 in Shinagawa-ku.
- 94.
This was a Nichiren-school temple founded in 1628. Today it stands at Mita 1-11-31.
- 95.
This may refer to the Shinkyōji (written with a different first ideograph) that was founded as a Jōdo Shinshū temple in Azabu in 1594, and in 1628, transferred to property held by Honganji. After the 1657 fire, it was relocated to Tsukiji. Today it stands at Fukunaga 1-7-79 in Suginami-ku.
- 96.
Perhaps Dōrenji, immediately next to Shinkyōji on the map of 1653.
- 97.
See note 18.
- 98.
Maybe an error for Jōanji, indicated on the 1653 as standing at Bakuro-chō.
- 99.
Perhaps Shōtokuji, a Pure Land temple founded or rebuilt in 1453 and after 1657 relocated to its current site at Matsugaya 2-3-3 in Taitō-ku.
- 100.
This was a Pure Land temple already present in Edo in 1453. In 1608 it was relocated to Bakuro-chō, and after the 1657 fire to Asakusa. In 1925 it was moved to its current spot at Akabane-nishi 6-15-21 in Kita-ku.
- 101.
The day was usually calculated as beginning at sunset, but the author appears to have been reckoning days and nights separately.
- 102.
Uesugi nenpu records the number of victims as 37,000 (Tōkyō-shi shikō, hensai-hen, vol. 4, p. 178); Gen’en jitsuroku (presenting events from 1616 to 1673) gives the figure “more than 68,080” (ibid., p. 228).
- 103.
The bosses of hinin beggars named Kuruma Zenshichi and Matsuemon were charged with this task. See Gyokuro-sō, vol. 1, p. 307.
- 104.
The full name of Ekōin, as the text relates, was Shoshūzan Muenji Ekōin, literally “temple for praying to the unidentified dead of all faiths.” Today the temple stands at Ryōgoku 2-8-10. Its establishment was overseen by the twenty-third head of Zōjōji, Jun’yo Kioku. According to Gyokuro-sō (vol. 1, pp. 307–308) the bakufu contributed 300 ryō to the construction of Ekōin, the final spot of repose for 107,046 souls. See also “The River of Time,” no. 22.
- 105.
Other sources indicate that four men were appointed: Naitō Tadaoki and Ishikawa Noriyuki (1634–1707) for the southern half of the city; and Matsura Shigenobu and Rokugō Masakatsu (1609–1677) for areas north of Nihonbashi. Gyokuro-sō, vol. 1, p. 307 gives yet other names.
- 106.
According to Gyokuro-sō, vol. 1, pp. 306–307, each commoner house was awarded 3.25 ryō in gold and 6.8 monme in silver, perhaps the equivalent of a month or two of wages for the average citizen. These figures thus suggest that only several thousand families received financial aid, and leave open the question of how and to whom such funds were apportioned.
- 107.
In 1658, as a fire prevention measure, the Ryūkan Canal (Ryūkan-gawa) was excavated from Hon-shirogane-chō and passing some nine wards due east. The canal then abruptly bent northward until it reached the Kanda River. The embankment in question may have been built on the side(s) of this canal.
- 108.
This level of hell, known in Japanese as muken-jigoku (Skt., Pali Avichi), is the eighth and most horrible of the eight hot hells of Buddhism.
- 109.
In Buddhism, the departed souls of all sentient beings are reborn into a lower or higher realm of a total of six realms of reincarnation (rokudō). The realm to which one is sent depends chiefly on one’s deeds while alive. The realm of beasts (Skt., Tiryagyoni-gati; J., chikushōdō) counts as the third realm from the bottom.
- 110.
Emma oversees the ten kings of hell. The Kushōjin keep complete records of everyone’s life and report their findings to Enma. The location would suggest a spot near Zōjōji, but the Map of 1656 indicates that the Edo “Hall of the Ten Kings” lay slightly to the north of the Asakusa Gate (for an illustration from later years see Edo meisho zue, vol. 3, pp. 434–435).
- 111.
Seishi is a powerful bodhisattva who represents the force of wisdom and is often depicted in a trinity with Amida and Kannon.
- 112.
The realm of hungry spirits (Skt., Preta-gati; J., gakidō) is the realm second from the bottom of the six realms of reincarnation.
- 113.
The realm of anger, jealousy, and war (Skt., Asura-gati; J., shuradō) counts as the realm fourth from the bottom of the six realms of reincarnation.
- 114.
The author cites the term busshu-jū engi (“buddha-seeds of dependent origination”), which appears in Chapter 2 of the “Lotus Sutra” in the passage, “Know that all dharmas are ever without substance, and that the buddha-seeds germinate through dependent origination. That is why they will teach the single vehicle.” See Tsugunari Kubo and Akira Yuyama, trans., The Lotus Sutra, p. 40.
- 115.
Volume 7/xia of Songshi quanwen (“History of the Song Period as a Complete Text,” pub. 1343) records the date of the quake as 1037/12/2. The number of fatalities and injuries differs according to the source, but Songshi (“History of the Song Period,” pub. 1343), Benji 10, “Renzong, part 2” reports 32,306 deaths by crushing, and 5600 wounded. The location is indicated as Bingzhou, Daizhou, and Xinzhou, all of which lie in today’s Shanxi Province.
- 116.
No emperor named Shizong lived during the era indicated. Shizong may be a mistake for Shizu (i.e., Kublai Khan, 1215–1294). The disaster in question is perhaps the great 1303 “Hongdong earthquake” of Shanxi (estimated magnitude 8), which apparently killed more than 200,000. Yuanshi (“History of the Yuan Dynasty,” 1370), Benji 21, “Chengzong, part 4” mentions a major earthquake on 1303/8 with an immense human toll. Ibid., Benji 16, “Shizu, part 13” also relates that on 1304/8 a great earthquake killed 7220.
- 117.
The dynasty name given is “Song” but should no doubt be Yuan. According to the Yuanshi the “Kaicheng earthquake” (estimated magnitude, 6.5) occurred on 1306/8. See Yuanshi, Benji 21, “Chengzong, part 4.”
- 118.
The year indicated (Zhitian 3) did not exist. I take this to be an orthographical error for Zhida 3 (1310), when according to the Yuanshi a flood claiming 3466 victims occurred (Benji, vol. 23, “Wuzong, part 2”).
- 119.
See Nihon shoki, vol. 1, p. 238 (W. G. Aston, trans. Nihongi, vol. 1, p. 151).
- 120.
The burning of Nara in 1180/12 is detailed in the Tale of the Heike (see Heike monogatari, vol. 1, pp. 380–385; Hiroshi Kitagawa and Bruce Tsuchida, trans., The Tale of the Heike, vol. 1, pp. 340–344). The Hannya Slope (Hannya-zaka) stood at what is today in Hannyaji-chō in Nara City.
- 121.
The “seven great temples” of Nara are Kōfukuji, Tōdaiji, Saidaiji, Yakushiji, Gangōji, Daianji, and Hōryūji, all of which date to the eighth century or earlier.
- 122.
This famous Buddha, cast in 749, measures some fourteen meters in height. The Buddha Hall today stands forty-five meters tall, but at the time of the fire it was evidently even loftier.
- 123.
This refers to the “Kamakura dai-jishin” or “Einin jishin,” a major earthquake of 1293/4/12 centering on the town of Kamakura. Buke nendaiki (uragaki, p. 150) reports landslides, collapsed houses, 23,034 fatalities, and the destruction of Daijiji and Kenchōji.
- 124.
Although a typhoon seems to have caused some damage on 1645/5/27–28 (see Tokugawa jikki, vol. 3 [Shintei zōho kokushi taikei, vol. 40], p. 403), widespread floods occurred in 1650. The Tokugawa jikki speaks of massive floods in western provinces from the seventh to the ninth months of that year. See Tokugawa jikki, vol. 3 (Shintei zōho kokushi taikei, vol. 40), pp. 651, 657.
- 125.
Sazare-ishi no iwa hodo narite, futaba no matsu mo oi-soite. Similar words are still sometimes sung in rural kagura pieces. The first phrase of the text is identical to an “auspicious poem” in the early tenth-century Kokin waka-shū (no. 343), a verse that has today become the text of the Japanese national anthem.
- 126.
On “Shibagaki” see for example Kankon shiryō, pp. 288–291. For a brief discussion in English, see Gerald Groemer, Street Performers and Society in Urban Japan, pp. 128–129.
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Groemer, G. (2019). An Eastern Stirrup: The Great Fire of 1657 (Musashi abumi). In: Portraits of Edo and Early Modern Japan. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7376-3_2
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