江戸東京博物館－EDO-TOKYO-Museum –the most prosperous eco-friendly city in the world (July. 2019-No.23）

EDO-TOKYO-Museum（江戸東京博物館）is located near Ryogoku Station on the JR Sobu Line and Toei Subway Oedo Line. In the vicinity, there are Ryogoku Kokugikan（両国国技館）, which is famous for sumo wrestling, and the Japanese Sword Museum（刀剣博物館）.

If you want to know the life of Shoguns, Daimyo（feudal lords), Samurai, townspeople and common people in the Edo period（江戸時代；1603-1868）, we recommend the permanent exhibition of this Museum.  The government by the Tokugawa Shoguns（徳川将軍） at this time is called Edo Shogunate (Edo Bakufu)（江戸幕府）. Edo is the present Tokyo, the de facto capital of Japan of that time. For about 250 years, Japan was able to enjoy a peaceful era thanks to the Shogunate's domestic control and seclusion policy. Edo in this era reached a population of around 1 million, and it was not only the largest consumer city in Japan, but also the largest city in the world.

Tokugawa Ieyasu（徳川家康） was the person who realized the major conversion from a typical local castle town to a huge city. Since Edo is a town built by burying the seaside, even if they dig a well, they could not get enough fresh water, and securing water is a problem. A huge population flowed from rural areas into Edo, causing various urban problems. In addition, the town of Edo, including Edo Castle, was burned out several times due to the great fire. However, the people of Edo, such as Samurai, townspeople and common people, have solved these problems and created a unique culture and lifestyle. The children learned to read, write and calculate, and the common people enjoyed buying ukiyo-e for a cheap price. Astonishingly, it is said that the literacy rate of adult men in the late Edo period was over 70%.

If you go to this museum, I recommend you to borrow an earphone guide. The latest guidance system provides detailed explanations in many languages.

EDO-TOKYO-Museum. The permanent exhibition rooms, located on the 5th and 6th floors of the structure, are divided into Edo Zone and Tokyo Zone. 

There are exhibitions about Edo as a castle town, including common people's daily life, extinguishing, eating habits, and culture.

Edo castle and moat. You can see the castle tower and the houses of people working in the castle. The houses are very close together, and it is easy to imagine that they will burn off in the event of a fire.

Luxurious Daimyo mansion. They had large grounds relatively near Edo Castle.

A small house of artisans in the Edo period. Edo is a large city, and artisans of various jobs have appeared to support it.

In the Edo period, reading and writing were widely taught for children. It greatly contributed to the modernization of Japan after the Meiji era（1868～）.

A shop selling ukiyo-e. Pictures such as beauty paintings, sumo wrestlers, kabuki actors, and landscape paintings were on sale. The common people could get great art at a cheap price.

Big merchant store. It was organized like the current department store.