Tokyo City

Since becoming a resident here almost a decade ago, Tokyo’s massive number of people and buildings packed into the smallest area imaginable has always left me with more than a few questions. One of the most prominent questions has always been, “how does this place not turn into a tinderbox whenever something catches fire?” On a recent trip into the Yotsuya District, the Tokyo Fire Museum finally answered this and many other questions. This museum is dedicated to the founding and continuing operations of the Tokyo Metropolitan Fire Bureau, which is in charge of fire protection for the 23 Wards of Tokyo and most of the towns within western Tokyo prefecture. Just as the Metropolitan Police of Tokyo sets a precedent for the other 46 Prefectural police departments, so too does the Tokyo Fire Bureau. Because of this, many exhibits depict the various “firsts in Japan” in firefighting. But one of the main exhibits is how the department came into being at the end of the Edo period and the beginning of the Meiji Restoration. Fires during the Feudal Period were common since everything was made from timber, and most dwellings had fire pits inside. Everything from small shacks to…