Fire Prevention System in Tokyo, Japan Dating Back to Edo

Edo, the city that became Tokyo, was one of the most fire-prone cities in the world.
Its houses were built mainly of wood and paper and packed closely together, and with dry winter winds, a single fire could quickly turn into a disaster.
The people of Edo responded by organising firefighting brigades, planning roads and open spaces to stop fires, and building houses that were harder to burn.
This article looks at the role of Edo's firefighters and the fire prevention measures built into the city's planning.
Knowing why Edo had so many fires, and how its people tried to prevent them, shows how much thought went into the city's design.

1. Why Fires Were So Common in Edo
2. Who Were Edo's Firefighters?
3. The Machi-bikeshi and Edo-Style Firefighting
4. Firebreaks and Broad Avenues: Urban Planning in Edo
5. Building Methods to Resist Fire
6. How Townspeople Kept Watch for Fire
7. Traditional Events Linked to Firefighting
8. Edo's Ideas in Today's Disaster Planning
9. Summary

1. Why Fires Were So Common in Edo

The main reason Edo had so many fires was the way the city was built.
Most buildings were wooden, and the walls and roofs used materials that caught fire easily.
Houses also stood very close together, so a fire in one home could spread quickly through the whole neighbourhood.
There was no electricity or gas, and daily life depended on open flames: cooking stoves, candles, paper lanterns and charcoal heaters.
When the air was dry and the wind was strong, a small fire could become a large one within moments.
The worst was the Great Fire of Meireki in 1657, which destroyed the main keep of Edo Castle and burned most of the city.
Arson was also a serious problem.
In a large, crowded city, personal disputes and social unrest sometimes led people to set fires on purpose.
Edo's frequent fires were, in many ways, the price of becoming such a large and crowded city.

2. Who Were Edo's Firefighters?

Edo's firefighters, called hikeshi, worked on the assumption that fires would happen, and their job was to stop them spreading and keep the damage as small as possible.
The firefighting system was divided into three main groups.
The daimyo-bikeshi were brigades provided by feudal lords, the jo-bikeshi were brigades under the direct command of the shogunate, and the machi-bikeshi were brigades organised by the townspeople.
People from different classes each took responsibility for protecting the city, which was a distinctive feature of firefighting in Edo.
Because a fire could break out at any time, the brigades had to be ready to move at once.
On reaching a fire, they pulled down the buildings around it to stop the flames from spreading.
Modern firefighting focuses on putting fires out with water, but in Edo the priority was to stop a fire from spreading.
The work called for courage, and also for quick judgement on the spot.

3. The Machi-bikeshi and Edo-Style Firefighting

The best known of Edo's firefighters were the machi-bikeshi, the townspeople's brigades.
They were organised under the eighth shogun, Tokugawa Yoshimune, by the town magistrate Ōoka Tadasuke, and divided into groups such as the "Iroha 47 brigades", which covered the districts west of the Sumida River.
Most members were strong, physically fit men such as tobi construction workers, who were used to working at height, and they rushed to fires to fight the flames and pull down buildings.
With the water supply and equipment of the time, they could not put out a large fire by pouring water on it.
Instead, they used "destructive firefighting": tearing down the houses in the fire's path to create a gap it could not cross.
Pulling down houses may sound drastic, but when water was scarce, it was the most practical way to stop a fire from sweeping through the city.
The machi-bikeshi were also popular figures in Edo, admired for their bold, stylish manner, and their tobiguchi fire hooks and hanten jackets are still strongly associated with old Edo.
Their work was dangerous, and the townspeople were proud of them.

4. Firebreaks and Broad Avenues: Urban Planning in Edo

Edo was protected both by its firefighters and by the way the city itself was laid out.
The most important measures were hiyokechi (firebreaks) and hirokoji (broad avenues), which were created across the city after the Great Fire of Meireki.
Hiyokechi were open spaces where building was not allowed, so that a fire would have nothing to burn when it reached them.
They also served as places to escape to during a fire.
Hirokoji were streets made much wider than usual.
The extra width made it harder for fire to jump from one side of the street to the other, gave firefighters room to move, and kept escape routes open.
Some of these names survive in Tokyo today, such as Ueno Hirokoji and Ryogoku Hirokoji.
In normal times, these open spaces filled with street stalls and sideshows, so the areas set aside for fire safety also became lively places to visit.
Fire prevention was part of Edo's urban planning from the start.

5. Building Methods to Resist Fire

Edo's buildings were also designed with fire in mind.
Common methods included tile roofs (kawarabuki), thick-walled earthen storehouses (dozō-zukuri) and earth-plastered exterior walls (nuriya-zukuri).
All of them helped make wooden buildings less likely to catch fire.
Earthen storehouses, with their thick mud walls, were especially fire-resistant and were used to protect valuables, records and goods.
In a city with so many fires, many merchant houses and storehouses were built this way.
Under Yoshimune, ordinary townhouses were also encouraged to use tiled roofs and plastered walls to make the whole city harder to burn.

6. How Townspeople Kept Watch for Fire

Fire prevention in Edo was part of everyday life for ordinary townspeople.
Each neighbourhood had a guardhouse called a jishinban, staffed by people paid from the neighbourhood's funds and by local landlords, who kept watch for fire and patrolled the area.
In neighbourhoods without a fire lookout tower, a fire-watch ladder was set up on the roof of the guardhouse so that a fire could be spotted early.
The kidoban, who kept the wooden gates at the entrances to each neighbourhood, also walked the streets at night to watch for fire.
A fire in one house put the whole street at risk, so neighbours worked together to make sure fires were never left unattended.

7. Traditional Events Linked to Firefighting

The culture of Edo's firefighters has been handed down through ceremonies and traditional performances.
From the Meiji period onwards, the successors of the machi-bikeshi have kept these traditions alive through ceremonies that honour firefighters and their history.
The main ones are the Dezomeshiki New Year ceremony, memorial services, ladder-top acrobatics (hashigonori), kiyari chants and the matoi standards.

Dezomeshiki and Memorial Services for Fallen Firefighters

Dezomeshiki is an annual ceremony that marks the start of the firefighting year.
In the Edo period, it was held by the shogunate's jo-bikeshi, and the machi-bikeshi held their own New Year ceremonies in each district.
It was a festive occasion for the brigades to renew their commitment for the year ahead.
Groups such as the Edo Shobo Kinenkai, an association that preserves the traditions of Edo's town firefighters, have worked to keep this culture alive.
They are separate from today's fire departments, but they carry on the customs of Edo's firefighters.
Every May, the Edo Shobo Kinenkai and the Tokyo Fire Department hold a memorial service for fallen firefighters in front of the monument dedicated to them in the grounds of Senso-ji Temple in Asakusa.
To the sound of kiyari chants, members in traditional firefighter dress parade through the temple grounds twirling their matoi, and ladder-top acrobatics are performed.
The ceremony honours those who fought fires, using the traditions of Edo's firefighters themselves.

Ladder-Top Acrobatics (Hashigonori)

Kiyari Chants

Kiyari is a traditional form of singing that grew out of work chants.
It was first sung to keep workers in time on building and timber-hauling sites, and among Edo's firefighters it became part of their ceremonies.
At Dezomeshiki and memorial services, kiyari sets a solemn, dignified tone.
Sung by many voices together, it still carries the teamwork that Edo's townspeople relied on to fight fires.

Matoi

The matoi was the standard carried by each Edo firefighting brigade.
Raised high on a rooftop near the fire, it showed which brigade was working on the scene, and it was also a source of pride for its members.
Each brigade had its own design, and the matoi still plays a central role in the events held by the Edo Shobo Kinenkai today.

8. Edo's Ideas in Today's Disaster Planning

Many of the ideas behind Edo's firefighting and city planning are still used in disaster planning today.
They include firefighters who are always ready to respond, open spaces that stop fires from spreading, wide roads for evacuation and buildings that resist fire.
Because fires were so frequent, Edo did not just react after each disaster; it tried to reduce the risk through the design of the city itself.

9. Summary

Edo's fire defences combined several things: organised firefighting brigades, city planning with firebreaks and broad avenues, fire-resistant buildings, neighbourhood watch systems and the ceremonies that kept firefighting traditions alive.
Edo was one of the most fire-prone cities in the world, and it was also a city that built fire prevention into its streets, buildings and communities.
When you walk through areas that still keep the atmosphere of old Edo, such as the streets around Senso-ji in Asakusa, take a moment to think about the firefighters and broad avenues that once protected the city.
Asakusa also has many places where you can experience traditions handed down from the Edo period. After visiting Senso-ji, why not try ninja training at Ninja Experience Cafe Asakusa?

What are we?

We run Ninja Experience Cafe in Asakusa and Harajuku in Tokyo, Dotonbori in Osaka, and Gion in Kyoto.
At our cafe, you can change into a ninja costume and try ninja training such as shuriken throwing and blowgun darts. To learn more about the weapons ninja used, see our article Shurikens, swords, and other weapons handled by Ninjas.
Our Asakusa branch is within walking distance of Senso-ji, so it fits easily into a walk around Asakusa's old-town streets. The experience alone takes about an hour.
The cafe is fully indoors, so you can enjoy it on rainy, hot or cold days alike.
Reservations can be made here.

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