The Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923

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Christopher Gandy

JSIS A 423

Professor Pyle

The Aftermath of the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake: The Beginning of Modern Japanese Urban Planning in Tokyo

Introduction Urban planning: what is it and why does it matter? Through extensive personal dialogue with citizens from various countries, much of the general population seems to be unaware of what this profession truly entails. When questioned, most believe it to be similar to architecture, or engineering of some sort. Furthermore, some are not even aware of the profession’s existence. Let me pose this question: if one has no understanding of a system, how can they have an opinion on the matter; let alone, know how it will develop in the future? Democracy comes with education, understanding, and active participation from citizens. If the citizens are uneducated/unaware of a profession that is so important to our everyday lives, and are unable to actively participate in its process, it is no surprise that the practice itself will have struggles with being truly democratic. If one is familiar with Japanese history and society, it is also no surprise then that in Japan during the 1920s the movement of planning was just grabbing hold in its bureaucratic system; not in democracy itself. Believing planning could have been democratic in this context is beyond idealistic. Japan had just come out of autocratic feudal rule around 50 years before the first countrywide, modern planning system was being implemented.1 This system, known as the 1919 City Planning Law, set the precedent for Japanese urban planning until the 1960s. Furthermore, only with the substantial revisions to the City Planning Law passed in June of 2000 did local

1 Making of Urban Japan p.90

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