Japan: Map of Edo (now the city of Tokyo) c. 1844 (top is due west)

Japan: Map of Edo (now the city of Tokyo) c. 1844 (top is due west)

Edo (??, literally 'bay-entrance' or 'estuary'), also romanized as Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo, and was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868. During this period it grew to become one of the largest cities in the world and the site of a vibrant urban culture centered on notions of the 'floating world'. The northeastern corner of the city, regarded as a dangerous direction in traditional onmyodo (cosmology/geomancy), is guarded from evil spirits by a series of temples, including Senso-ji and Kan'ei-ji. Just beyond these lay the districts of the eta or outcastes, who engaged in unclean vocations and were thus separated from the main sections of commoner residences. A long dirt path extended west from the riverbank, a short distance north of these eta districts, leading along the northern edge of the city to the Yoshiwara pleasure districts. Previously located within the city proper, close to Asakusa, the districts were rebuilt in this more distant location after the Meireki Fire of 1657.

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