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Tokyo - COMMONERS’ CAPITAL 3: Disaster, Prayer, and Play

Season 5, Ep. 3
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In this walk, we’re exploring the flatlands northeast of the Palace, where much of the real work of the city has always been done. In this episode, we see how working-class Tokyo has been destroyed, time and time again, but also how it’s bounced back, thanks in part to its temples, which have long allowed for both prayer and play.


We start at Ekōin, built in the 17th century to commemorate the 100,000 killed in the Great Meireki Fire. Soon, it’s complemented by a great bridge, and 100 years later there’s an entertainment district, where you can while away the time with prostitutes, acrobats, and sumo. These days, Ryōgoku is more respectable, with a national stadium and the main city museum. Just to their north, there’s another memorial, to those who died in the 1923 earthquake and the 1945 firebombing. We cross to the other side of the river, pass what were once the shogun’s rice warehouses, and walk along it for a couple of bridges. Over to the east, there’s the tallest structure in the world, a recent attempt to revitalize that side of the river. But we end the walk exploring the past and present of Asakusa. The temple at its heart is over 1,000 years old, but this area also took off in the 18th century, by combining prayer and play. By the early 20th, things were hopping, only to decline in the postwar, as the city moved west. Today, it’s a mandatory tourist stop, but also a poor relation, compared to the districts we’ll explore in our next walk.


You can follow the walk on this map: bit.ly/3WZ0dWi

And you can find the full transcript here: bit.ly/42w4npL


See a sneak peek on TikTok: tiktok.com/@walkhistoricity and Instagram: instagram.com/WALKHISTORICITY


WRITER AND PRESENTER: Angus Lockyer

PRODUCER: Jelena Sofronijevic


This series was supported by the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation. Find out more at: gbsf.org.uk

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