Directory_and_Chronicle_1887 — Page 530

TOKYO.

FRENCH CATHOLIC MISSION.

L'Abbé Aimé Villion, mission, apost. L'Abbé L. Relave

HIROSHIMA.

FRENCH CATHOLIC MISSION.

Rev. P. Compagnon

OKAYAMA.

AMERICAN BOARD MISSION. Rev. Otis Cary, Jr.

Rev. J. H. Pettee (absent)

Rev. Orramel H. Gulick

Rev. Geo. M. Rowland

Miss Eliza Talcott

FRENCH ATHOLIC MISSION. Rev. Luneau Rev. C. Muty

517

TOKYO.

The capital of Japan [until the Restoration called Yedo] is situated at the north of the Bay of Yedo, has a circumference of 24 miles, and covers a surface of nearly 36 square miles. The Sumida, or Great River, runs through the city, dividing Tokyo proper from the districts on the east side called Honjo and Fukagawa.

Tokyo as viewed from the bay is a pleasant-looking city, being well situated on undulating ground, and possessing abundant foliage. The city is divided into fifteen grand divisions, each of which is again subdivided into smaller sections. It is in fact more like an aggregation of towns than one great city. The houses, and even the public offices, are all numbered, which method is adopted in every town and vil- lage throughout Japan. The Castle of Tokyo occupies a commanding position on a hill a little to the westward of the centre of the city. It is enclosed in double walls, and surrounded by a fine broad moat. Within the Castle formerly stood the Imperial Palace and several public offices, but the destructive fire of the 3rd of April, 1872, levelled these ancient and massive buildings, leaving only the surrounding lofty turrets and walls. Since this great disaster, by which more than 5,000 houses were destroyed, the Mikado has taken up his residence temporarily in one of the Daimios' palaces at Akasaka, while the public offices are now located in new brick or stone buildings in various places near the Castle. A new Imperial Palace on the old site is in course of construction. The Imperial Garden called Fukiage is situated within the enclosure of the Castle. It is tastefully laid out in the pure native style, and contains fine forest trees, rare and beautiful plants of all kinds, a large pond, cascades, &c., and is most carefully kept. This fine garden well repays inspection, and admission can readily be obtained twice a week by visitors with orders granted by the different Legations.

Between the Castle and the outer walls, a large area was until recently occupied by the numerous palaces of the Daimios, but nearly all these feudal erections have now given place to smart brick or stone buildings, used as Public Offices, Barracks, Government Schools, &c., so that at the present time very few of the Daimios' palaces remain to illustrate what old Yedo was like in the time of the Shogunate. Some of those that remain, near the Castle, have been converted into Government Offices. They are large plain long buildings of a single high storey, plain but substantial, with no pretensions to architecture, but interesting as reminiscences of feudal Japan.

The remaining portion of the city outside the walls is very densely inhabited, and may be called the commercial district of Tokyo. It has a circumference of 24 miles and covers an area of about 29 square miles. The most important part of the business quarter is on the east of the Castle, and is traversed by a main street