MeijiShowa

05/06/2026

A CASTLE IN A MARSH

Last month, I briefly introduced the area in front of Tokyo’s Ueno Park just before the 1923 Great Kantō Earthquake turned it to ashes. It was a vibrant maze of geisha houses, rendezvous teahouses, and top-class restaurants, many with a breathtaking view of the lotus-filled Shinobazu Pond.

Before diving deeper into Ueno, I decided to go back in time to better understand how its unique culture emerged. My latest article explores how Tokyo, then called Edo, was established by the ambitious warlord Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543–1616).

Over a decade before becoming sh**un, he built a stronghold in what was then a marshy, low-lying wetland, far removed from the centers of power in Kyoto and Osaka. It was on the very edge of what the elite considered the civilized world.

In this challenging landscape, Ieyasu and his successors built a radically new social order that transformed Japan. Squeezed between the powerful forces unleashed by this new order and the natural splendor of Shinobazu Pond, Ueno’s unique culture was born.

This article explores Edo before Ieyasu’s arrival and what he built there.

The text, images, and the maps that I created show the Tokyo area in a way we very rarely get to see.

Find the link in the comments!

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The photo shows Edo Castle between 1872 and 1874. In the center is the Sakash*ta Gate; in the background, the Fujimi Yagura turret. Both still exist today. The massive castle, built in a marsh, was the heart of a new social order from which the unique culture emerged of Tokyo’s Ueno district.

07/05/2026

TOKYO’S UENO BEFORE THE QUAKE

Before it was razed by the terrifying fires of the 1923 quake, the area in front of Tokyo’s Ueno Park was a vibrant maze of geisha houses, rendezvous teahouses, and top-class restaurants, many with a breathtaking view of the lotus-filled Shinobazu Pond. It was a place where geisha, art, and power met and mingled.

Ueno was one of early 20th century Tokyo’s most vibrant social hubs. It attracted a huge range of people: students, professors, authors, poets, artists, businessmen, government officials, and so on. Many came for the cherry blossom and lotus flowers at Shinobazu Pond, others for the geisha parties.

During the 1910s, Ueno’s geisha district counted some 348 geisha and maiko in 139 geisha houses. Three of these geisha achieved national fame.

Ueno was a diverse and almost bohemian place, full of energy and dreams. Visiting it was an adventure.

Yet, surprisingly little is known about what it was like. There is a mountain of historical material on Ueno Park, but almost nothing on the vibrant entertainment and commercial hub right in front of it.

Over the past three months, I have dug deep into newspapers, magazines, books, directories, credit registers, and even court records from the late 1800s through early 1900s.

I have uncovered compelling firsthand accounts and stories. In some cases, the data tells its own story. Of the roughly 240 businesses I have identified so far, about 30 percent were owned or managed by women.

Today, I published the first article in a series that will introduce this forgotten chapter of Tokyo’s history.

Find the link to the article in the comments.

ABOUT THE PHOTO

A view on the area between Hirokōji Avenue and Shinobazu Pond as it looked just before the 1923 earthquake. The large building in front is one of the area's two department stores. Behind it are geisha houses. Along the edge of the pond are rendezvous teahouses and restaurants.

22/03/2026

SHINOBAZU BOOK STREET
ONE BOX BOOK FAIR

The 26th Shinobazu Book Street One Box Book Fair is scheduled for Saturday, April 25th, 2026 (11:00〜16:00).

First launched in 2005, this unique book fair attracts book lovers from across Japan. What makes this event special is that regular people sell their used books from a single box at locations scattered throughout Tokyo's Yanaka, Nezu, and Sendagi districts (Yanesen), neighborhoods known for their Showa-era charm and countless temples.

Chat with the vendors and discover what makes the books they are offering special.

One Box Book Fairs (一箱古本市, Hitohako Furuhon Ichi) were started in Yanesen and have become popular in many other locations as well.

Incidentally, every year the Shinobazu Book Street organization prints a map with locations of bookstores in Yanesen. You can pick up a copy at one the district's bookstores.

For more information about their activities, visit their blog at https://shinobazukun.hatenablog.jp

22/03/2026

FUN BOOKSTORE IN TOKYO'S YANAKA DISTRICT

I was at the Yanaka Branch of Taito City Library yesterday, near Tokyo’s Ueno Park, to do research for my next article and wandered about the neighborhood a little. Near the library, I stumbled onto a charming tiny bookstore, Boogooz, and started chatting with the owners, Mr. and Mrs. Mukai.

They told me that they used to work as graphic designers for a book publisher. They are now retired and opened the bookstore to sell their huge collection of books which they amassed for inspiration for their work. They don’t sell the books for profit, Mr. Mukai explained — the low prices of their books reinforced that statement.

I got the impression that they were looking for loving homes for the books that they cherished for so many years.

The store is very small, but full of beautiful books, many related to art, design, photography and cooking, but also lots of novels. The majority are in Japanese, but there are some in other languages as well. I even found several in Dutch, purchased because they admired Dutch graphic design.

Yanaka is part of the "Yanesen" district, which includes neighboring Sendagi and Nezu. It is a nostalgic neighborhood with countless temples and traditional buildings and shops where the feeling of a Showa period “sh*tamachi” (downtown) survives to this day.

If you can make some time, please go and visit the shop. Even if you can’t find any books you want the atmosphere is nice and the area is full of charming boutiques, shops, and temples.

NOTE

Mr. and Mrs. Mukai can only accept cash, so come prepared!

https://www.boogooz.jp

13/03/2026

MEMORIES OF THE 2011 TSUNAMI (3)

This week I am sharing some of the first reports I filed about the aftermath of the 2011 tsunami. The past two days I introduced how firefighters searched for bodies in a nightmare landscape and the anger of Fukushima residents.

Today’s article introduces the heart-wrenching story of survivors searching for missing family members in the immediate days after the tsunami wiped entire towns from Japan’s map.

I was deeply moved by the people I interviewed and observed. Their extraordinary strength and resilience in the face of unimaginable uncertainty and pain were both humbling and inspiring.

Find the link in the comments.

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The photo shows the town of Rikuzentakata as it looked on March 25, 2011. It was almost completely washed away by the tsunami. Many families were ripped apart by the violent waters.

12/03/2026

MEMORIES OF THE 2011 TSUNAMI (2)

On March 11, 2011, a powerful tsunami wiped entire towns from Japan’s map. I arrived in the disaster area the following day to cover the aftermath. This week I am sharing some of the first reports I sent from the rubble.

Today’s article describes the uncertainty that surrounded the damaged nuclear power plant in Fukushima. On March 16, only five days after the first explosion at the plant, I interviewed Fukushima resident Kazuhiro Kikuchi and his family. They had evacuated to Yamagata that very day.

Kikuchi ran a small electrical contracting company and had worked at the Fukushima nuclear plant for years. He was inside the facility when the massive tsunami struck.

He and his wife were furious about the lack of information and assistance. Find the link to his story in the comments.

The photo shows a Yamagata City employee checking evacuees from the area around the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant with a geiger teller at an evacuation center in Yamagata on March 16, 2011.

11/03/2026

MEMORIES OF THE 2011 TSUNAMI

On Friday, March 11, 2011, a 9.1-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Japan’s Tōhoku region. Minutes later, a tsunami swept ashore, wiping entire towns from the map and leaving more than 22,000 people dead or missing.

I arrived in the disaster area the following day. During my first visit, I remained there for six weeks, reporting live on the radio multiple times a day, filing articles, and documenting the aftermath with my camera. I took thousands of photographs. Most of them were never published.

Over the next few days, I will share some of the first reports I sent from the rubble, along with photographs taken during those early days in the disaster zone.

Please join me in remembering the people who lost their lives, the survivors who lost everything they owned, and the many individuals who stepped forward to help.

Find the link to the first article in the comments.

11/02/2026

RECOMMENDED EXHIBITION IN TOKYO
The Relationship between Ukiyo-e and Photography

The Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, nearby Tokyo Station will be holding a fascinating exhibition "to unravel the complex relationship between ukiyo-e and photography" during the late 19th and early 20th century. The exhibition has been planned and created in cooperation with the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art in Washington, D.C.

The Smithsonian has sent 120 prints and photographs from their collections, the museum’s largest-ever outgoing exhibition.

On the Smithsonian blog, curator Frank Feltens describes how the show explores "the rapid transformation of Japanese art during the late 19th–early 20th centuries and what it's like to plan an exhibition abroad."

"It’s not unusual for an exhibition to travel from its home museum to others, but it is unique to curate a show exclusively for a location abroad. So this exhibition is a rare and special opportunity for us to reach beyond our galleries’ walls."

The exhibition "focuses on the period between the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, when many Japanese traditions were reconfigured to align more closely with the needs of an ambitious modern society. Japan’s modernization affected every area of Japanese identity, including art-making. This period of cultural twilight was a time not only of upending tradition but also of finding a middle ground between the past and the present."

Read more on the Smithsonian blog. A link to the exhibition page at the Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum is provided in the comments.

The exhibition is held from February 19 through May 24, 2026.

120 woodblock prints and photographs from our collections will travel to the Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum in Tokyo.

10/02/2026

TOKYO’S HORSE RIDING GEISHA

In my third article about horse racing at Tokyo’s Ueno Park, you will discover why and how the celebrated racetrack completely vanished.

The article shows how the spot continued to bring in the modern world. Japan’s first motor race took place at Shinobazu (1901), as well as the country’s first certified fixed-wing aircraft flight (1909). It was also the location of influential exhibitions that showed Japan’s new position in the world, including its role as a colonial power.

In 1906, horse races were once more held at Ueno Park. Surprisingly, at least six geisha from the Asukasu Park geisha district registered for the races, ranging in age from fifteen to twenty-one years old.

A newspaper article that I found about the races mentioned that one of them, Koen, was well-known as a postcard model, a new trend at the time. I was able to find several of her postcards in the collection of a friend. She allowed me to publish one of Koen’s postcards in my article.

Discover more of this fascinating story by clicking the link to the article in the comments!

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The photo from 1907 shows the same location where the Shinobazu Grandstand once stood. Its sober traditional architecture replaced by the vibrant Taiwan Pavilion and an eclectic Westernized architecture of the Tokyo Industrial Exhibition.

09/02/2026

THE POWERFUL SYMBOLICS OF TOKYO’S UENO PARK

In 1884 (Meiji 17), a horse racetrack was opened around Ueno Park’s Shinobazu Pond, famed for its lotus flowers. Although it was Japan’s most important racetrack in what is arguably Tokyo’s most prominent park, today few people know that horses used to race here.

The racetrack and its magnificent grandstand were constructed at Ueno Park for crucial political aims. One was to visualize the emperor and help cultivate a new national identity centered on him.

Ueno Park was the perfect stage for this.

During the Edo period (1603–1868), a grand temple complex of over 30 buildings dedicated to the Tokugawa shōguns stood here. It was destroyed during the civil war that overthrew the sh**un and brought the emperor to power.

From the 1870s on, Meiji leaders organized influential national expositions and built museums and education facilities at Ueno Park, making it a powerful symbol of modernization and a new Japan. Here, it was literally built on the ruins of feudal Japan.

Discover this fascinating history of Ueno Park in my latest article. It also looks at how the racetrack completely changed the shape of Shinobazu Pond. The Shinobazu Pond we know today is mostly a result of this long forgotten racetrack.

Find the link to the article in the comments.