Tsukiji (築地) is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, Japan. Literally meaning "reclaimed land", it lies near the Sumida River on land reclaimed from Tokyo Bay in the 18th century during the Edo period. The eponymous Tsukiji fish market opened in 1935 and closed in 2018 when its operations were moved to the new Toyosu Market. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
There are also districts named Tsukiji in Kobe and Amagasaki, cities in Hyōgo Prefecture, although neither is as well known as the district in Tokyo.
Tsukiji is built on reclaimed land out of what were once lowland marshes along the Sumida River delta. Throughout the Tokugawa period, earth from the shogunate's extensive moat and canal excavations was systematically used to fill in the marshes along the river, creating new commercial districts and waterfront housing. The land was then named Tsukiji (築地), meaning "constructed land" or "reclaimed land". [6]
The Great Fire of Meireki of 1657 destroyed over two-thirds of Edo's buildings, including Hongan-ji temple in Asakusa, the enormous Kantō headquarters of the Jōdo Shinshū sect. [7] As a result, the temple site was relocated to Tsukiji, where many of the residents of nearby Tsukudajima were instrumental in its reconstruction. A number of other temples were also erected on what is now the outer marketplace. In addition, many private residences for samurai and feudal lords were constructed along the southern edge of Tsukiji.
In 1869, Tsukiji was designated as an approved residential area for foreigners and treaty port. However, as the Yokohama foreign settlement, opened in 1859, had already become a center for commercial activities and international trade it never flourished, Like Yokohama, it was separated from the city by a canal.Tsukiji grew more as a focus for education, healthcare and Christian mission work. Early classroom and study facilities for Keio University, Rikkyo University, Aoyama Gakkuin, St. Margaret's Junior College, the American School in Japan and St. Luke's International Hospital were all to be found in this district. The Hoterukan (also known as Tsukiji Hotel or Edo Hotel), the first foreign -style hotel in Tokyo was a popular subject for woodblock prints after it opened in 1870, but it burned down after only four years.It was never very popular with foreigners, who gravitated to other parts of the city or Yokohama. Moreover, the roadstead was distant because the harbor was shallow. After twenty years (1889), it was reincorporated into the city of Tokyo.
The United States legation occupied a site in Tsukiji from 1875 to 1890 on the site that is now occupied by the St. Luke's Garden complex. The American legation had been moved from an old temple in Azabu, by Minister John Bingham, prominent Reconstruction era Ohio congressman and the longest serving American chief of mission to serve in Japan. A total of ten other legations also established quarters there.
Tsukiji was also the location from 1869 of the Imperial Japanese Navy technical training facilities, renamed in 1876 as the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy. In 1888, the Naval Academy was relocated from Tsukiji to new, larger facilities at Etajima in Hiroshima Prefecture. The Tsukiji naval buildings next to the Akibashi bridge then became home, until 1923, of the Naval War College, a post-graduate staff college for senior naval officers.
After it was closed as a treaty port, it became an industrial area. The Great Kantō earthquake on September 1, 1923, and the resultant fires which raged in its aftermath, caused severe damage throughout central Tokyo. A significant portion of the Tsukiji district burned to the ground, and the old Nihonbashi fish market was razed. In the citywide restructuring following the quake, the Nihonbashi fish market was relocated to the Tsukiji district, and after the construction of a modern market facility, reopened in 1935. It was a major source of fish for the region. In his book on Tsukiji, Theodore Bestor called it "the market at the center of the world." [8]
Foreign companies with offices:
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Rikkyo Junior High School was established in Tsujiki in 1896 but the building was destroyed by the Great Kanto earthquake, so a new building in Ikebukuro opened in 1923. [15]
Edo, also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo.
Tokyo, formerly Edo, historically Tokio, and officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital and largest city of Japan. Its metropolitan area is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 million residents in 2018. Its metropolitan area is the largest in size and the most populous, with an area of 13,452 square kilometers and its city proper has a population of 13.99 million people. Located at the head of Tokyo Bay, the prefecture forms part of the Kantō region on the central Pacific coast of Japan's main island of Honshu. Tokyo is the political and economic center of the country, as well as the seat of the Emperor of Japan and the national government.
Tokyo Bay is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan, and spans the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. The Tokyo Bay region is both the most populous and largest industrialized area in Japan.
Kōtō is a special ward located in Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. The ward refers to itself as Kōtō City in English. As of May 1, 2015, the ward has an estimated population of 488,632, and a population density of 12,170 persons per km². The total area is approximately 40.16 km².
Chūō is a special ward that forms part of the heart of Tokyo, Japan. The ward refers to itself in English as Chūō City. It was formed in 1947 as a merger of Kyobashi and Nihonbashi wards following Tokyo City's transformation into Tokyo Metropolis.
The Tsukiji Market, supervised by the Tokyo Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market of the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Industrial and Labor Affairs, was the largest wholesale fish and seafood market in the world. It was also one of the largest wholesale supermarkets of any kind. The market opened on 11 February 1935 as a replacement for an older market that was destroyed in the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake. It was closed on 6 October 2018, with operations moving to the new Toyosu Market.
Nihonbashi (日本橋) is a business district of Chūō, Tokyo, Japan which grew up around the bridge of the same name which has linked two sides of the Nihonbashi River at this site since the 17th century. The first wooden bridge was completed in 1603. The current bridge, designed by Tsumaki Yorinaka and constructed of stone on a steel frame, dates from 1911. The district covers a large area to the north and east of the bridge, reaching Akihabara to the north and the Sumida River to the east. Ōtemachi is to the west and Yaesu and Kyobashi to the south.
Hongan-ji, also archaically romanized as Hongwanji, is the collective name of the largest school of Jōdo Shinshū Buddhism. 'Hongan-ji' may also refer to any one of several actual temple buildings associated with the sect.
Tsukiji Hongan-ji (築地本願寺), sometimes archaically romanized Hongwan-ji, is a Jodo Shinshu Buddhist temple located in the Tsukiji district of Tokyo, Japan.
The Sumida River is a river that flows through central Tokyo, Japan. It branches from the Arakawa River at Iwabuchi and flows into Tokyo Bay. Its tributaries include the Kanda and Shakujii rivers.
Nishi Hongan-ji (西本願寺) is a Jōdo Shinshū Buddhist temple in the Shimogyō ward of Kyoto, Japan. It serves as the head temple of the sub-sect Honganji-ha.
Shintomichō Station is a subway station on the Tokyo Metro Yurakucho Line in Chūō, Tokyo, Japan, operated by Tokyo Metro. Its station number is Y-20.
Tsukiji Station is a subway station on the Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line in Tsukiji, Chūō, Tokyo, Japan, operated by the Tokyo subway operator Tokyo Metro.
The Port of Tokyo is one of the largest Japanese seaports and one of the largest seaports in the Pacific Ocean basin having an annual traffic capacity of around 100 million tonnes of cargo and 4,500,000 Twenty-foot equivalent units.
Yamanote (山の手) and Shitamachi (下町) are traditional names for two areas of Tokyo, Japan. Yamanote refers to the affluent, upper-class areas of Tokyo west of the Imperial Palace. While citizens once considered it as consisting of Hongo, Kōjimachi, Koishikawa, Ushigome, Yotsuya, Akasaka, Aoyama and Azabu in the Bunkyō, Chiyoda, Shinjuku, and Minato wards, its size has grown to include the Nakano, Suginami and Meguro wards. Shitamachi is the traditional name for the area of Tokyo including today the Adachi, Arakawa, Chiyoda, Chūō, Edogawa, Katsushika, Kōtō, Sumida, and Taitō wards, the physically low part of the city along and east of the Sumida River.
St.Margaret's Junior College is a private women's junior college in Suginami, Tokyo, Japan.
Toyosu (豊洲) is an area of Kōtō, Tokyo, Japan. Its subdivisions consist of Toyosu 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 chome.
The Hongan-ji Nagoya Betsuin (本願寺派名古屋別院) is a Jōdo Shinshū Buddhist temple located in Naka ward, Nagoya in central Japan.
The British Embassy, Tokyo is the chief diplomatic mission of the United Kingdom in Japan, with the Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Japan being the chief of mission. The embassy compound measures about 35,000 m2, located at No 1 Ichibanchō, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, to the west of the Imperial Palace, and separated from the latter by a moat.
The Toyosu Market is a wholesale market in Tokyo, located in the Toyosu area of the Kōtō ward. There are two markets for seafood, one for general wholesale and one for bidding, and one market for fruits and vegetables, with each in its own building. Tourists can observe the auction market on a second floor viewing deck. There are restaurants with fresh seafood and produce from the market and shops. The market is built on reclaimed land in Tokyo Bay, and replaces the historic Tsukiji fish market. Auction tours, events, merchandise sales and restaurants can be used by general consumers and tourists. When it opened on 11 October 2018, it became the largest wholesale fish market in the world. It is also one of the largest wholesale food markets of any kind.
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Coordinates: 35°40′05″N139°46′26″E / 35.66819°N 139.77390°E