Evening star., 1923-09-03
DISASTER FREQUENT
IN IAPAN'S CAPITAL.
Toxic Familiar With Flames,
Floods and Many Earth.
quakeS.

Toxic and Yokohama are but eight
cen miles apart. the one the capital
and largest city of the empire, the
other the chief treaty port.
Toxic means eastern capital" 1t
received that name in 1868. when the
mikado took up his residence there.
This wealthiest city of Japan is no
stranger to earthquakes. In 1872 a
large part of the city was destroyed
by Are. In 1911 food destroyed
much property and 1000 lives.
The capital city is situated in the
eastern part of Japan. at the northern
extremity of the Bay of Yedo or
Toxic. in the middle district of Hon
shu. The city proper is separated from
the suburbs by the Sumida river.
Population of 100000.
The city has a population of about
100000 persons. The greatest dis
aster has been felt in the Nihonba shi
district. the leading business district,
and the Kanda districts. and the other
the Latin quarter" of the city. These
are adjoining wards on the bank of
the river.
The commercial city stands on low
ground. reclaimed from the sea and
marshes. There are twelve great
parks in the city. which Is a mixture
of old wooden buildings and modern
freproof structures.
The municipally-owned tramways
have a couple of hundred miles of
track, and carry a million passengers
daily. Toxic is the chief railroad
center of the empire.
The Nihonbashi ward was the most
densely populated in the city. having
about 10000 inha abitsnts in an area
OF about one and half square miles.
The bridge across the Sumida in this
district is regarded as the center of
the ward and of the city. The street
which leads from the bridge is pop
ularly called broadway" and is one
OF the leading streets of the capital
RMS district has been much infiu :
enced IN recent years by western
building methods and construction
Great banks, the stock exchange, rice
exchange and other important COM
mercial interests. including the tele-
graph OFFICES. are located here.
Fine Buildings Destroyed.
The Toxic imperial museum. the
Imperial library. many great temples
and other structures of historic in
terest are believed to have been
destroyed by the quake and result
ing fire.
Tokio'S Importance is held to date
from 1890. when it was captured by
lyeyaSu, who became Shotgun in 1903
the city is moist and generally con-
S1dered unhealthful in summer but
cool and pleasant from September to
June.
Yokahama. eighteen miles from
Toxic, does most of the foreign bus
mess for the capital. as large ships
can not get within six miles of To-
kio. The harbor of Yokohama is pro-
tected by two great breakwaters. with
an entrance between them 500 feet
wide and deep enough for vessels of
the largest tonnage.
Its population is more than a halt
million people, with a large foreign
population. 1t. too, has suffered great
disasters. In 1866 a great fire ravaged
1t. and in 1870 earthquakes did much
damage. Thousands were killed as a
result of a cholera epidemic in 1886
Great Trade Port.
More than half of the trade of the
empire is conducted through its port
J. is a great silk center. The district
facing the harbor is known as Kwan-
Ewai A district known as the bluff
is occupied by Americans and Euro.
peans.
The wealthy Japanese live in the
hilly Nogeyama district.