Catastrophe, Opportunism, Contestation: The Fractured Politics of Reconstructing Tokyo following the Great Kantô Earthquake of 1923

Abstract

‘Earthquake and fire destroyed the greater part of Tokyo. Thoroughgoing reconstruction needed. Please come immediately if possible, even if for a short stay.’ So cabled Viscount Gotô Shinpei, former mayor of Tokyo (1920–1923) and current Home Minister to his long-time friend and Director of the New York Bureau of Municipal Research, Charles A. Beard. Six days earlier, on 1 September 1923, an earthquake with an estimated magnitude between 7.9 and 8.2 devastated much of Tokyo and the surrounding Kantô region. The quake and the resulting fires, conflagrations that burned for over two days, destroyed nearly 70% of all structures in Tokyo, inflicted damage with a monetary cost upwards of 5.5 billion yen, killed more than 120,000 citizens, and rendered just over 1.5 million people homeless: it was an urban catastrophe surpassed in scope only by the devastation wrought by aerial bombing during the Second World War. The Kantô Daishinsai was Japan's most deadly, economically costly, and physically destructive natural catastrophe in history. Within a world history context moreover, the 1923 earthquake was one of the most devastating and disruptive natural disasters of the 20th century, yet it is also one of the least studied.

Post-Disaster Reconstruction and Institutional Mechanisms for Risk Reduction: A Comparative Study of Three Disasters in India

“…Mismatch between the routine and emergent procedures (Quarantelli 1989 , pp. 10-11), lack of co-ordination, inter-departmental rivalry and fractured politics (Schencking 2006 ) may lead to failure of the EOMs as in the case of Japan after 1923 Kanto earthquake (Schencking 2006 ) or Guatemala after the 1976 earthquake (Bates 1982 ). A new organization created with overriding powers may not sit very well with the existing organizations.…”

“…Bureaucrats and political leaders saw the emergence of NRC as a threat to their powers and tried to undercut the policies of NRC (Bates 1982 ). Another example is the failure of the "super reconstruction agency" in the form of a special reconstruction ministry set up in the aftermath of Great Kanto Earthquake in Japan due to political and inter-departmental rivalry (Schencking 2006 ). Such problems are not uncommon, hence the dilemma.…”

“…Besides, as emphasized by Topping ( 1998 ) in the case study of Oakland wildfi re, California, GSDMA brought together representatives from relevant agencies and organizations. The success of GSDMA in integrating and coordinating diverse wings of the administration can be contrasted with the debilitating inter-departmental rivalries that ensued from the setting up of an EOM after Kanto earthquake (Schencking 2006 ). The success of Victorian Bushfi re Reconstruction and Recovery Authority (VBRRA) set up in Australia for reconstruction after Victorian Bushfi res (2009), Queensland Reconstruction Authority (QldRA) created in the aftermath of Queensland Floods (2010Floods ( -2011, and formation of Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Commission (CERC) in New Zealand following Canterbury Earthquakes (2010)(2011)(2012) show that if the new institutions have the capacity, coordinate with all stakeholders, engage the community and communicate with the stakeholders they can be highly successful (Smart 2012 ).…”

“…But the potential to bring about a transformation is not always realized. Reconstruction programs failing to build back better, despite aiming to do so, as in the case of 1976 Guatemalan earthquake (Bates 1982 ), Hurricane Mitch (Wisner 2004 ;Ensor 2009 ;Ensor et al 2009 ;Telford et al 2004 ) and Great Kanto earthquake in 1923 (Schencking 2006 ;Hein 2005 ) prove this point.…”

The Nature of Emergency: The Great Kanto Earthquake and the Crisis of Reason in Late Imperial Japan

“…More recent attempts to work Tokyo's destruction into a national (and international) narrative by Charles Schencking, Janet Borland, Christopher Mullis, Kerry Smith and others are just beginning to be published, and may contribute to reversing this trend. (see Clancey 2006b, 909–951; Schencking 2006; Borland 2005; and Mullis 2008).…”