Directory_and_Chronicle_1923 — Page 508

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TOKYO

Between the castle and the outer walls a large area was formerly occupied by the numerous palaces of the Daimios, but nearly all these feudal erections have now given place to brick or stone buildings, used as public offices, barracks, Government schools, etc., 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. They are large long buildings of a single storey high, plain but substantial, with no pretensions to architecture, but interesting as reminiscences of feudal Japan.

Several portions of the city outside the walls are very densely inhabited, and comprise the commercial and industrial "slum," and the more pretentious residential districts. The most important part of the business quarter is on the east of the castle, and is traversed by a main street running from the north to the south-west under different names. A considerable length of this thoroughfare, part of which is called Ginza, is lined with brick buildings in the European style; the road is wide but not well kept, the pavement broad and planted with trees on either side.

A section well worth a visit is the public park or garden named Uyeno, where formerly stood the magnificent temple founded and maintained by the Shoguns, and which was destroyed by fire during the War of Restoration in July, 1868. In these grounds the Industrial Exhibition of 1877 was held, when the gardens were converted into a public pleasure resort by the Government. Several exhibitions have since been held hers and have proved very successful. In Uyeno is also situated the fine Imperial Museum (Haku-butsu-kwan).

Among the places much resorted to by visitors is the ancient temple of Kwannon, at Asakusa, not far from Uyeno, one of the most popular and most frequented temples in Japan. The temple is elevated about 20 feet from the ground. A flight of steps gives access to the interior. There is a chief altar at the extreme end of the temple, with side chapels at its right and left, containing a great number of wooden images and ex votos. The interior is not very large, and is not so conspicuous for cleanliness as most of the public buildings in Japan. At the right of the templo there is a fine old Pagoda, an near it are two colossal stone statues. A new park was also opened close to the temple about the same time as that of Uyeno. Thus, with Shiba, in the south- west, where are to be seen some of the splendid shrines of the Shoguns, among the chief glories of Tokyo, there are three large public gardens within the city. The fine buildings of the Imperial University (Teikoku Daigaku) stand in the district of Hongo near Uyeno Park. There are altogether 1,275 temples in Tokyo, some of which are fine edifices. The building in which the Imperial Diet meets is a plain edifice, and is only intended for temporary use.

The districts of Honjo and Fukagawa form a distinct industrial portion of the capital. Here is the centre of the lumber and other trades. This quarter is connected with the rest of the city by six great bridges, some of which are constructed of iron and some of wood. They are called, commencing on the north, Adsuma-Bashi, Umaya-Bashi, Ryogoku-Bashi, O-Hashi, Shin-O-Hashi and Eitai-Bashi, respectively. From these the traveller may obtain a fine view of the animated river-life of the Sumida, whose waters are always covered with junks and boats of all descriptions.

A great part of the remaining area forming the district north of the castle, a few years ago covered by paddy fields, is to-day covered by "suburbs" of great extent, well served by the municipal tramway system. There are also extensive pleasure gardens, such as Asuka-yama, and neat little villages. The part west of the castle contains 50 temples, and a number of nobles' palaces. The district on the south of the castle, with an area of about 17 square miles, contains about 60 temples.

60 temples. The most remarkable among them is Fudo-sama in Meguro.

Several great fires have during the last two decades swept Tokyo, and these have led to great improvements and widening of the streets. Rows of good houses in brick and stone, and new bridges, in many cases of iron or stone, have been built, and the city has in many portions been thoroughly modernised. There are some very large and handsome official and mercantile buildings. Tramways have been extended in all directions and the cars are usually crowded with passengers. A ten-minute service is maintained with Yokohama. The main streets and those adjacent to them are lighted by electricity, and the remainder by gas and oil lamps, Lines of telegraphs, amounting in all to 200 miles, connect the various parts of the city with one another, and with the country lines. The main streets are broad and fairly well kept, and improvements attend the work of reconstruction after each conflagration. But as the city is in a transition state it necessarily presents many strange anomalies. Side by side with lofty stone buildings stand rows of rude wooden houses. As with the buildings so with