Sacred Virtue Memorial Gallery), a building that in part resembles the National Diet, except that its center portion is domed rather than having a tower. (The gallery is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily all year and admission is ¥500.) Construction of the gallery was begun within three years of the emperor’s death in 1912, but it was not completed until 1920. It was one of the centers where Japanese nationalism was fostered by the government’s militant Shinto agencies before the end of World War II. The hall contains 80 pictures, half in traditional Japanese style, half in a modern Western style, all glorifying the emperor and his life in a manner that raises him to the level of divinity—which nationalist forces found helpful in creating a post-Tokugawa Japan. The gallery is no longer supported by the government but is now operated by the Meiji Shrine Foundation. Thus it has to create income by selling charms, through the rental of the nearby Meiji Memorial Hall (Meiji Kinenkan) for weddings and meetings, and with the restaurant and a beer terrace in the same building. This hall was once part of the Aoyama Palace, and it was here that the Imperial Constitution of the 1890s was discussed in front of the emperor. (The Kinkei Lounge is the restored room where the Meiji Constitution was promulgated in 1890.) In general, today’s public has shown little interest in this memorial gallery to the Meiji emperor, and it can be bypassed by the average tourist not interested in the glorification of an unimportant emperor who was a façade for his militaristic advisors.
When one has completed this diversion, the Sobu Line trains may be reached at the Shinanomachi Station to the right rear of the gallery or one may take the Ginza Line at Gaienmae Station on Aoyama-dori for return to other parts of the city.
GETTING THERE
This tour starts at Hanzomon Station on the Hanzomon subway line, which connects directly to major stations such as Shibuya, Omotesando, and Otemachi.
Walking Tour 4
TSUKIJI AND TSUKISHIMA
The Harvest of the Sea, the Shrine of the Fishermen Spies, the Foreigners’ Enclave, and Dutch Learning
1 Tsukiji Market
2 Hama detached Palace Garden
3 Tsukishima Island
4 Dutch learning Area
5 Tsukiji Hongan-ji Temple
If Tokugawa Ieyasu were to return to Tokyo today, there is one area of his one-time capital that would utterly amaze him, and that is Tsukiji, to the east of Ginza. His astonishment would stem from the fact that this was still part of Tokyo Bay while he was alive. The very name of the district, Tsukiji, is a giveaway as to the change that has taken place over the centuries, since tsukiji means “reclaimed land,” and that is exactly what it is.
When Ieyasu had the hills of Kanda to the north of the castle leveled to fill in Hibiya Inlet, the fill also helped to create solid land on the marshes of what became the Nihombashi and Ginza areas of old Edo. The creation of the Tsukiji sector began about 1650, but the area was greatly enlarged after 1657, the result of the Long Sleeves Fire of that year, which destroyed much of the city. The marshy sections to the west of Ginza were filled in order to create additional land where some of the daimyo could build their mansions and portions could be granted to certain temples. (The filling in of Tokyo Bay continues. In the four decades after 1945, one-seventh of the bay was filled in to create an additional 7 square miles [18.2 square kilometers] of dry land.)
A goodly portion of the land was granted to the heirs of Okudaira Nobumasa (1555–1615), with politics and marriage being involved with this grant. Nobumasa had been an ally of Ieyasu, and, in one of the many battles before Ieyasu became supreme, the enemies of Nobumasa killed Nobumasa’s wife in revenge for his defection to Ieyasu’s side. To atone for the loss Nobumasa had sustained, Ieyasu granted Nobumasa his eldest daughter in marriage. In time, Ieyasu even adopted his grandson from this marriage, giving him the new family name of Matsudaira. A descendent, Matsudaira Sadonobu (1759–1829), was one of the great Tokugawa administrators, and it was his family, living in the Tsukiji area, who were unwittingly to help in the founding of modern Japanese studies of the West. Even before the Matsudaira family set foot on their newly created land, others of a less powerful group were living on one of the small islands, at the point where the Sumida River flows into the bay. Here on the island of Tsukuda-jima, now much enlarged, Ieyasu’s son Hidetada had settled a group of fishermen from the Osaka area with a twofold purpose to suit his needs, one culinary and one political. Those purposes will be revealed when the fishermen’s island is explored.
1 TSUKIJI MARKET
The fishing tradition remains strong in modern Tsukiji, in the shape of the Tsukiji Central Wholesale Markets, where this tour begins. Situated directly south of Tsukiji-Shijo subway station, Tsukiji Market is one of Tokyo’s earliest risers. The famed early-morning tuna auctions there are ideal for visitors to Tokyo keen enough or jet-lagged enough to get out of bed before sunrise, for they erupt into a frenzy of action at 5:30 a.m. and are one of the most worthwhile experiences Tokyo has to offer. With the tuna auctions dominating tourist brochure coverage of the market, Tsukiji has become known among foreigners primarily as a fish market, although it is actually a central market that handles all kinds of produce (fish, meat, vegetables, processed and dried fruit) with the exception of rice. This area was once the exquisite garden of the Matsudaira lords, difficult though that may be to imagine. From the beginnings of Edo in the early 1600s to the last century, the city’s fish market lay to the north along the Nihombashi River at the far side of the Nihombashi Bridge. There the many white-plastered kura or storehouses and the fish market reigned supreme. The 1923 earthquake and fire, however, destroyed the area, and the market began to move to its present site, which became official in 1935 as new buildings were erected.
With the change in forms of shipping and packaging of bulk foodstuffs, the 1935 market has proved less than efficient. Plans have been suggested for moving the market to the south, but in 1991 a 12-year renovation program began. The revamped three-story market was to have multistory skyscrapers around it, with the market itself doubling in size and adequate parking provided for the vehicles flooding into the area each morning. Whereas much of the produce, particularly fish, came by boats in the past, today frozen bulk foods arrive by air and are then transported here by truck from Narita Airport, which can boast that it is Japan’s leading fish port. It is estimated that 90 percent of the fish now arrives overland rather than by sea to the market’s docks, with salmon from Canada and Chile, shrimp from Thailand, sea urchin roe from Maine, and tuna from Spain. So many fish have died to satisfy the Japanese palate that a monument has been raised outside the market to memorialize the fish that have given up their lives.
Tuna ready for auction at Tsukiji Market
Although primarily a wholesale market, Tsukiji also serves the needs of the general public.
The largest fish market in Asia, the Tsukiji Market is owned and under the control of the metropolitan government of Tokyo. The figures for the number of market stalls, employees, and wholesalers who work here each day are staggering. It is estimated that there are some 1,677 wholesale shops that employ 15,000 workers. Work begins at 2:00 in the morning, while the auctions themselves start at 5:30 a.m. Some 3,000 barrows take the fish from the auction to the buyers’ quarters. It is said that 60,000 individuals are within the market each day, 30,000 of them comprising wholesalers and retailers. Foreign workers have been on the increase as Japanese find this labor less to their liking. While the most exciting time to visit the market is when the auctions begin (registration for a visit starts at 5:00 a.m.), finding adequate
