More About the Basics of Fire Prevention Laws and Regulations [Special Chapter]

The History of Fires and Firefighting in Japan and Six of its Major Cities [#2]

The History of Firefighting(Tokyo and Yokohama)“The History of Fires and Firefighting in Japan and Six of its Major Cities” is a compilation of the historyof ﬁres and ﬁreﬁghting in Japan and six of its major cities and related data from 1950 to 2020 intended to
introduce the state of ﬁres and ﬁreﬁghting in Japan to the rest of the world. The second installment of thisseries of special chapters will focus on Tokyo and Yokohama.

Kyōichi Kobayashi, Ph.D. (Engineering)

Professor, Center for Fire Science and Technology, Research Institute for Science and Technology, Tokyo University of Science

5. Fires and Fire Service Systems in Six Major Japanese Cities
5-1 Tokyo
1) The history of Tokyo
The history of Tokyo, the capital of Japan, begins in the early 17th century, when the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu established thecity of Edo. Prior to the cityʼs establishment, much of the area was coastal marshland and not well suited for habitation, but theTokugawa shogunate used the latest technology available at the time to develop the entire region, moving merchants from all overthe country to Edo to create a huge commercial district and thus a system to support the lives of the samurai class, from which thegovernment bureaucracy was derived.
The Tokugawa shogunate lasted for about 270 years, during which time Edo flourished as a political and economic center andgrew into a metropolis with a population of 1.5 million by the 19th century.
To feed 1.5 million people, a water supply system, a canal transportation network, and a household waste recycling system werebuilt, and a market for food and household goods was established. Although there was no sewage system, a social system wasdeveloped in which waste was recycled back into the soil as fertilizer.
In addition, many citizens spontaneously established private schools, where children of the common people also studied. As aresult, the literacy rate and cultural level of the common people were both extremely high, leading to the development of literature,
painting, theater, and food culture, which are the roots of Japanese culture as we know it today.
In 1868, Edo was renamed Tokyo when Emperor Meiji established the modern state of Japan.
Many people came from all over Japan to work for the new government in Tokyo, with most of them living in the area centeredaround the Imperial Palace (inside what is now the Yamanote Line). The Meiji government promoted the modernization of the city
by establishing a foreign settlement in Tsukiji and constructing a Western-style neighborhood with brick buildings in Ginza.
By the end of the 19th century, Tokyo had become Tokyo Prefecture, centered around the city and including surrounding towns
and villages, the Izu Islands, and mountainous areas to the west, resulting in the present-day Tokyo Metropolis.
The 20th century saw a further influx of people into Tokyo, with the population reaching 3.7 million in 1920.
On September 1, 1923, a magnitude 8 earthquake struck Tokyo, causing extensive damage in what later became known as theGreat Kanto Earthquake. Damage from the earthquake was most severe in Tokyo and Yokohama, where a total of 370,000 houses
either collapsed or burned to the ground, and a combined total of approximately 105,000 people were killed or went missing. Of
these, approximately 92,000 died in the ensuing fires, which accounted for 90% of all deaths.
The reconstruction of Tokyo after the earthquake was undertaken directly by the Japanese government, led by count Shinpei
Gotō. Gotō attempted to create a safe and sanitary city by reallocating land, building wide highways, bridges, and gas conduit
networks, and improving densely populated residential areas, but was forced to scale back the project due to a lack of funds. The
reconstruction was completed in 1930, and September 1 was designated “Disaster Prevention Day” to commemorate the tragedy ofthe earthquake.
In 1941, the Pacific War began. Tokyo was subjected to intense air raids by the U.S. military from November 1944 until Japanʼs
defeat in August 1945. In particular, the air raid by 300 B-29 bombers on the night of March 10, 1945, caused extensive damage

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as napalm bombs destroyed most of downtown Tokyo, an area which had been densely populated with wooden houses. As a resultof the bombing, 1 million people lost their homes, and 100,000 people were killed.
After the war ended, Japan was occupied by the Allies and reborn as a democratic, peaceful nation. After regaining sovereignty
in 1951, Japan experienced rapid economic growth, and Tokyo was rapidly rebuilt.
With the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, the city was transformed into a modern metropolis complete with skyscrapers and a networkof highways and subways. Furthermore, Tokyo was connected to other major cities throughout Japan by a network of high-speed
trains known as the Shinkansen, making it the political, economic, and cultural center of Japan.
Today, Tokyo has an area of 2,200 ㎢ (including the Izu Islands and mountainous areas), a population of 14 million, and a GDP
in nearly of USD 1 trillion.
On the other hand, Japanʼs population and economy are both overly concentrated in Tokyo, making the country highly
susceptible to disasters. There are still significant areas of Tokyo that are vulnerable, such as those densely populated with wooden
houses. As a result, the Japanese government estimates that a major earthquake hitting Tokyo could destroy up to 610,000 homes,
kill 23,000 people, and cause nearly USD 1 trillion in economic damage.
(Reference materials: “The History of Firefighting”, Museum of Fire and Disaster, Institute of Scientific Approaches for Fire & Disaster)2) The history of firefighting in Tokyo
Edo (the predecessor of Tokyo) became the de facto capital of Japan in the early 17th century and developed as a political andeconomic center, becoming a metropolis with a population of over 1 million by the early 18th century.
During the Edo period (1603-1867), the city of Edo was populated by samurai from the ruling class, as well as ordinary citizens
who supported the daily lives of the samurai, with a population ratio of approximately 50:50. The samurai lived in relatively large
dwellings built in their own separate districts, which covered 70% of Edo, while ordinary citizens lived in small houses in densely
packed residential areas, which covered about 15% of Edo.
At that time, all buildings were wooden, so when fires broke out, they spread widely. In particular, because the residential
areas of ordinary citizens were densely populated with small wooden houses, when fires broke out during the dry and strong
northwesterly winds of winter, they often developed into large-scale urban fires.
During the Edo period, there were two types of fire brigades: jōbikeshi and machibikeshi. Jōbikeshi were the samuraiʼs own firebrigades who extinguished fires in the samurai districts, while machibikeshi were private, volunteer fire brigades consisting of
ordinary citizens who extinguished fires in the residential areas.
At the time, fire pumps were manual and had poor firefighting capabilities, so a fire brigadeʼs primary means of extinguishingfires was to destroy neighboring houses to prevent them from spreading. Therefore, the principal members of machibikeshi werecarpenters and construction workers who were familiar with the structure of houses.
When Edo was renamed Tokyo during the Meiji period(1868-1912), jōbikeshi joined the police force as public

Table 2 Key ﬁreﬁghting-related data for Tokyo (2020)

firefighting teams, while machibikeshi became the (private)
volunteer fire corps.
After the war ended in 1945, the fire defense organization
became independent from the police force in 1948, and themunicipalities assumed responsibility for firefighting. In
Tokyo, the Tokyo Fire Department was established in 1948.
Since then, the Tokyo Fire Department has expanded its
personnel and facilities in response to the concentration of
the population in Tokyo, the expansion of the urban area,
and changes in the urban structure.
(Reference materials: “One Hundred Years of Firefighting inPopulation

13,971,109

Total Area

2,194㎢

Tokyo Metropolitan Government
Expenditures (based on the 2018settlement of accounts)

JPY 7,379B(USD 67,082M)*

Firefighting expenses (based on the2018 settlement of accounts)

JPY 231.8B(USD 2,107M)*

No. of public firefighters

18,624

No. of volunteer firefighters

22,077

No. of fire department (public)82

No. of Volunteer fire corps

98

Tokyo”, Tokyo Fire Department)

Fire pumpers(including volunteer fire corps vehicles)

3) Data on fires and fire service systems in Tokyo

Ladder trucks

87

Fire and disaster prevention helicopters

8

The following data is for the Tokyo Metropolis as awhole, including islands and mountainous areas.

1,010

Fire boats

8

Ambulances

374

Prepared based on the 2020 White Paper on Fire Service and the
FY2018 Prefectural Accounts Card.
*Converted at JPY 110 to USD 1 (exchange rate at the time of 2018)8

Table 3 Major ﬁres in Tokyo (1868-2020)
Date

Buildings or
districts where
the fire occurred

No. ofburnedhousesFatalities

Injuries

Overview

12/12/1875

Yoshiwara

630

Urban fire

10/03/1876

Kanda

805

Urban fire (broke out in a bath house)

11/29/1876

Nihombashi

10,0003

Urban fire

01/05/1877

Nihombashi

443

Urban fire

03/04/1877

Shitaya300

Urban fire

03/12/1877

Ushigome

03/17/1878

Kanda

350

Urban fire (broke out in a bath house)

1,271

Urban fire

05/17/1878

Kanda

300

Urban fire

01/18/1880

Kanda

413

Urban fire

02/04/1880

Nihombashi

2,120

Urban fire (high winds)

04/28/1880

Koishikawa

409

Urban fire

05/08/1880

Kojimachi

392

Urban fire (broke out in a bath house)

01/26/1881

Kanda

15,221

Urban fire

02/11/1881

Kanda

7,307

Urban fire

02/21/1881

Yotsuya

1,291

Urban fire

03/31/1881

Kanda

330

Urban fire

05/09/1882

Kanda

428

Urban fire

01/09/1884

Shinagawa

507

Urban fire

03/04/1884

Nihombashi

360

Urban fire

1,320

03/13/1885

Nihombashi

03/31/1887

Shiba

545

Urban fire (broke out in a bath house)

12/18/1887

Asakusa

457

Urban fire (broke out in a bath house)

12/19/1887

Nihombashi

05/22/1888

Kanda

824

Urban fire

1,630

Urban fire
Urban fire (broke out in a baked potato shop)

02/27/1890

Asakusa

1,497

Urban fire

03/05/1890

Shiba

862

Urban fire

06/23/1890

Hongo

971

Urban fire (broke out in a tofu shop)

03/30/1892

Shiba

309

04/10/1892

Kanda

4,119

Urban fire
24

Urban fire

04/11/1892

Shiba

513

Urban fire (broke out in a vacant house)

11/11/1892

Asakusa

678

Urban fire

08/06/1893

Hachioji736

Urban fire

01/28/1894

Shinagawa

331

Urban fire

12/12/1895

Shiba

823

Urban fire

04/22/1897

Hachioji

3,104

01/03/1898

Shitaya593

40

60 Urban fire
Urban fire (broke out in a bath house)

03/23/1898

Hongo

111

Urban fire

04/20/1898

Shitaya469

Urban fire

12/07/1904

Miyakejima

327

Urban fire (The entire village almost burned down.)

01/31/1906

Asakusa

447

Urban fire

02/17/1908

Iwabuchimachi

500

Urban fire

04/09/1911

Yoshiwara

6,555

Urban fire (The red-light district almost burned down.)

03/21/1912

Fukagawa

1,000

Urban fire (broke out in a brothel)

09/11/1912

Shitaya343

02/20/1913

Kanda

2,180

Urban fire

Urban fire (high winds)

04/25/1919

Koishikawa

355

Urban fire

04/06/1921

Asakusa

1,287

01/09/1923

Shibuya361

116 Urban fire (high winds)
Urban fire (broke out in a factory)9

70,497
312,328 (including 10,904
missing persons)

09/01/1923

All areas of Tokyo

03/26/1924

Takadamachi

635

Urban fire (broke out in a buckwheat noodle shop)

10/30/1924

Shiba

594

Urban fire (Fire at emergency temporary housing for earthquake
disaster)

03/18/1925

Nippori

2,106

05/13/1925

Asakusa

299

03/19/1925

Nishi-Sugamo

597

28,972 Great Kanto Earthquake

Urban fire (broke out in a factory)
1

Urban fire
Urban fire

14

This was the first fire in a modern building in Japan in whicha large number of people died. Celluloid toys stacked next to
40 an electric heater in the toy department on the fourth floor of a
crowded department store during the Christmas shopping season
ignited and spread rapidly.

20

16

12/16/1932

Department store

12/23/1932

Multifamily
residential
complex

03/06/1937

Restaurant10

06/30/1937

Nursery

10

08/24/1938

Residence andindustrial factory

68

05/09/1939

Factory
gunpowdermagazine

19

194

02/14/1953

Factory andsurrounding
residences

20

Explosion of gunpowder at a factory. 14 buildings including the
35 factory were completely destroyed or burned down, and 270
surrounding residences were damaged.

12

284

A fire broke out in a store and spread to an adjacent apartment,
killing and injuring many of the apartmentʼs residents.

Fires in private houses and factories caused by airplane collisions,crashes, and explosions.
A gunpowder magazine at the factory exploded, spreading thefire to neighboring factories.

08/01/1955

Fireworks factory

18

27 Explosion at a fireworks factory

07/15/1958

Chemical plant

13

24 Explosion at a chemical plant

07/30/1958

Fireworks factory

11

2 Explosion at a fireworks factory

08/24/1960

Oil and fat factory

10

11 Gas explosion

07/14/1964

Warehouse

19

During firefighting operations at a warehouse, illegally stored
114 organic peroxide exploded, killing and injuring numerous
firefighters.

01/11/1965

Oshimamachi

585

Urban fire (broke out in a sushi restaurant)

02/18/1982

Hotel

33

A fire broke out at a well-known hotel that did not have a sprinkler
34 system installed in violation of the Fire Service Act, resulting in
numerous casualties.

06/06/1987

Nursing home

17

A fire broke out at night and many elderly people died because
25 they could not evacuate. After the fire, regulations on the
installation of sprinkler systems were tightened.

44

A beer case placed on the only staircase of a small multi-tenantbuilding was set on fire, killing many customers and employees
3 who were unable to evacuate due to inadequate fire protection
measures. After the fire, regulations on single-staircase buildings
were tightened.

09/01/2001

Small multitenant building

Urban ﬁre: Fires that have destroyed approximately 300 or more houses, excluding wars.
Other ﬁres: ﬁres with 10 or more fatalities(Prepared based on “The Encyclopedia of Environment, Disasters and Accidents (published by Maruzen)” and the White Papers on Fire Service)10

㎢

1,000 people― Population (left axis)― Area (right axis)
Figure 8 Population and area of Tokyo (1950-2020)

Number― Total― Buildings― Forests― Vehicles― Other

Figure 9 Number of ﬁres in Tokyo (1950-2020)(Prepared based on “The Fire Annual Report”, FDMA)
peoplepeople― Injuries (left axis)― Fatalities (right axis)
Figure 10 Fatalities and injuries from ﬁres in Tokyo (1950-2020)(Prepared based on“The Fire Annual Report”, FDMA)

11people― Public ﬁreﬁghters― Volunteer ﬁreﬁghters

Figure 11 Number of ﬁreﬁghters and volunteer ﬁreﬁghters in Tokyo (1950-2020)(Prepared based on “The Fire Service Annual Report”, FDMA)
Number― Fire pumpers(including volunteer ﬁre corps)*Total of standard ﬁre pumpers and ﬁrepumpers with water tanks― Ambulances

Figure 12 Number of ﬁre pumpers and ambulances in Tokyo (1950-2020)(Prepared based on “The Fire Service Annual Report”, FDMA)

5-2 Yokohama
1) The history of Yokohama
Yokohama is a port city located 30 to 40 km southwest of central Tokyo, facing Tokyo Bay.
Yokohama was little more than a small fishing village until the mid-19th century, but things changed when U.S. Navy warships
came to Japan in 1853 to negotiate the opening of the country for trade.
Since the early 17th century, the Japanese government had, in principle, prohibited exchange and trade with foreign countries.
Nagasaki, a city 1,000 km away from the de facto capital of Edo (the predecessor of todayʼs Tokyo), was the only window for
exchange and trade with foreign countries (with western countries limited to the Netherlands).
In 1858, the Tokugawa shogunate, then the government of Japan, was forced to accept trade with the United States after thelatter backed its demands with military force. However, the Japanese government declined to allow foreign ships to enter the
port of Edo directly, so instead they built a port in Yokohama to receive foreign ships. Subsequently, the construction of foreign
settlements and trade facilities in Yokohama led to the cityʼs development as an international trading hub.
In 1872, Japanʼs first railroad line opened between Yokohama and Tokyo, which contributed greatly to Yokohamaʼs economic
development, and by the early 20th century its population had grown to nearly 500,000.

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In 1923, Yokohama was hit by a massive magnitude 8 earthquake. This earthquake later became known as the Great Kanto
Earthquake, and although Tokyo suffered extensive damage as described in section 5-1, Yokohama was struck by an even fiercer
tremor that caused tremendous damage. The earthquake destroyed all modern buildings (including the consulates of many
countries) and nearly wiped out the entire city, with 100,798 houses destroyed, 22,355 people killed, and 10,208 injured. The
Japanese government then implemented an earthquake reconstruction project, and Yokohama, which had been devastated by theearthquake, was almost completely restored by 1929.
Subsequently, the urban area of Yokohama was expanded through a series of mergers with neighboring areas and land
reclamation along the Tokyo Bay shore. Yokohama also served as a port of embarkation for Pacific Ocean routes during thegolden age of cruise ships. At the same time, the port changed from an export port for raw silk to a trading port for industrial
products, and the proportion of machinery, metal products, and steel in both exports and imports increased significantly, a trendthat continues to this day.
During World War II, 46% of Yokohamaʼs urban area was destroyed in a series of napalm attacks by the U.S. Air Force thatdamaged 100,000 homes, killing 6,000 people and injuring 14,000. In particular, the air raid on May 29, 1945, burned the coastal
area and completely destroyed the city center.
After the war ended in 1945, the Allies demanded the right to use the city center and the port of Yokohama as a military base,which greatly delayed Yokohamaʼs reconstruction.
After Japan regained its sovereignty in 1951, key areas that had been confiscated by the Allies were gradually returned toJapanese control, allowing the reconstruction of Yokohama to proceed. In 1957, the Japanese government decided to develop theport of Yokohama as an international port, and the city has since experienced rapid growth.
Today, Yokohama is an international port city and the political and economic center of Kanagawa Prefecture. Yokohama is also
a popular tourist destination, an industrial city with a vast industrial area along the coast, and a bedroom community for Tokyo.
Currently, Yokohama is the second largest city in Japan, with an area of 436 ㎢ and a population of 3.8 million.
(Reference materials: “The History of Yokohama”, City of Yokohama)2) The history of firefighting in Yokohama
In 1859, the Japanese government built a port to receive foreign ships in Yokohama, then a small fishing village. At the sametime, a small fire brigade to protect not only the homes of ordinary citizens but also foreign settlements and trading facilities fromfire. This is the origin of the Yokohama City Fire Bureau.
In 1871, a British steam fire pump was imported and deployed in this fire brigade, the second of its kind in Japan.
In 1882, Yokohamaʼs fire brigade became part of the police force. The population at that time was 94,000.
In 1919, Yokohamaʼs fire brigade was separated from the police force and placed under the jurisdiction of the governor of
Kanagawa Prefecture. By that time, the fire brigade consisted of 2 fire stations, 2 fire engines, and 20 human-powered pumps, andemployed 92 firefighters and 800 assistants.
On September 1, 1923, a massive earthquake known as the Great Kanto Earthquake struck Yokohama, causing catastrophic
damage as described in 1) above. The fire department also suffered extensive damage.
Toward the end of World War II, from 1944 to 1945, the U.S. Military carried out repeated air raids on Yokohama. Most housesback then were made of wood, and despite the painstaking efforts of the fire brigade, 46% of the city was destroyed by fire.
After the end of the war, each municipality became responsible for firefighting services. The Yokohama City Fire Bureau wascreated in 1948, and initially consisted of 8 fire stations, 854 public firefighters, 82 fire engines, 2 ambulances, 4 fire boats, and7,801 volunteer firefighters.
Since then, the Yokohama City Fire Bureau has been strengthened as the cityʼs size, population, and economy have grown.
Currently, the situation is as follows.
(Reference materials: “The History of Firefighting”. City of Yokohama)133) Data on fires and fire service systems in Yokohama
Table 4 Key ﬁreﬁghting-related data for Yokohama (2020)

Population

3,778,718

Total Area

436㎢

Yokohama City Expenditures(based on the 2018 settlement of accounts)

JPY 1,730.9B(USD 15,735M)*

Firefighting expenses(based on the 2018 settlement of accounts)

JPY 41.2B(USD 375M)*

No. of public firefighters

3,652

No. of volunteer firefighters

7,739

No. of fire department (public)18

No. of Volunteer fire corps

20

Fire pumpers(including volunteer fire corps vehicles)

548

Ladder trucks

21

Fire and disaster prevention helicopters2
3 (including 1
rescue boat)

Fire boats
Ambulances

103

Prepared based on the 2020 White Paper on Fire Service and the FY2018
Municipal Accounts Card.
*Converted at JPY 110 to USD 1 (exchange rate at the time of 2018)

Table 5 Major ﬁres in Yokohama (1868-2020)

Date

Buildings or
districts where
the fire occurred

No. ofburnedhousesFatalities

Injuries

Overview

01/12/1879

Motomachi

300

Urban fire

11/09/1883

Motomachi
1-chome445

Urban fire

11/04/1884

Isezakicho
1-chome780

Urban fire

09/20/1886

Fukutomicho
3-chome640

Urban fire

06/17/1894

Motomachi
5-chome

1,092

08/12/1899

Kumoicho
1-chome3,207

02/23/1900

Nigiwaicho
2-chome324

Urban fire (broke out in a bath house)

07/18/1906

Negishicho
Aizawa595

Urban fire

03/19/1910

Nogecho
3-chome542

Urban fire

04/28/1919

Chitosecho
1-chome3,127

2

09/01/1923

Entire YokohamaCity

25,324

24,646

09/13/1926

VesselUrban fire (broke out in a bath house)
14

10 Urban fire (broke out in a bath house)

17 Urban fire
Great Kanto Earthquake

10

8 Fire on a vessel docked at Yokohama Dock

04/24/1951

Train

107

A train caught fire due to a problem with overhead line construction at
a station, and because the doors did not open and there was no other90
means of evacuation, many passengers became trapped inside thetrain and were killed or injured.

02/17/1955

Nursing home

99

A fire broke out on the first floor due to a tenantʼs negligence. The
9 two-story wooden building with a total floor space of 3,000 ㎡ wascompletely destroyed by the fire, resulting in numerous casualties.

02/16/1989

Vessel1013 Fire on a vessel docked at Yokohama DockUrban ﬁre: Fires that have destroyed approximately 300 or more houses, excluding wars.
Other ﬁres: ﬁres with 10 or more fatalities(Prepared based on “The Encyclopedia of Environment, Disasters and Accidents (published by Maruzen)”)14

㎢

1,000 people― Population (left axis)― Area (right axis)
Figure 13 Population and area of Yokohama (1950-2020)

Number― Total― Buildings― Forests― Vehicles― Other

Figure 14 Number of ﬁres in Yokohama (1950-2020)(Prepared based on “The Fire Annual Report”, FDMA)
people― Fatalities― Injuries

Figure 15 Fatalities and injuries from ﬁres in Yokohama (1950-2020)(Prepared based on “The Fire Annual Report”, FDMA)

15

people― Public ﬁreﬁghters― Volunteer ﬁreﬁghters
Figure 16 Number of ﬁreﬁghters and volunteer ﬁreﬁghters in Yokohama (1950-2020)(Prepared based on “The Fire Service Annual Report”, FDMA)
Number― Fire pumpers(including volunteer ﬁre corps)*Total of standard ﬁre pumpers and ﬁrepumpers with water tanks― Ambulances

Figure 17 Number of ﬁre pumpers and ambulances in Yokohama (1950-2020)(Prepared based on “The Fire Service Annual Report”, FDMA)

16