1923 Great Kantō earthquake
gigatos | June 11, 2022
Summary
The Great Kanto Earthquake (関東大震災 Kanto: Daishinsai) is a large earthquake (magnitude 8.3) that struck Japan on September 1, 1923. It was named after the Kanto region, which suffered the most damage. In the West it is also called the Tokyo or Yokohama earthquake, because it almost completely destroyed Tokyo and Yokohama. The earthquake killed several hundred thousand people and caused substantial property damage. In terms of the scale of destruction and number of victims, this earthquake is the most destructive in the history of Japan (but not the strongest – the 2011 earthquake was more powerful, but caused less damage).
The earthquake began on September 1, 1923, in the afternoon. Its epicenter was located 90 km southwest of Tokyo in the sea near Izuoshima Island in Sagami Bay. Totally during two days 356 underground shocks happened, the first of them were the strongest. In Sagami Bay 12-meter tsunami waves rose due to changes in the position of the seabed, which devastated coastal settlements.
In Yokohama, 65 km from the epicenter, at least one-fifth of the buildings were immediately destroyed by the tremors. Fires broke out immediately, and because of the strong winds the flames spread quickly. In the port, gasoline spilled on the water was burning, and the flames reached 60 meters in height. Most of the fire-fighting equipment was destroyed in the first tremors, severely limiting the ability to contain the fires.
On the Tokyo-Yokohama railroad, a train derailed when it ran into twisted and twisted rails.
In Tokyo, which was 90 km from the epicenter, fewer buildings were destroyed than in Yokohama (in percentage terms), but there were also widespread fires spread by the strong winds, which caused the most damage. Fleeing from the tremors and fires, residents fled to open spaces – squares and parks – but this did not always help. In one of Tokyo”s squares about 40,000 people died – they suffocated when the houses surrounding the square caught fire. Firefighting equipment survived, but the earthquake destroyed the city”s water supply, and in many cases fire trucks could not drive through the narrow streets. Eventually the tremors and fires destroyed about half of the city”s structures.
On September 2, Yamamoto Gombei took over the Japanese government. He imposed martial law on the outskirts of Tokyo, declared emergency mobilization and, together with Internal Affairs Minister Goto Shimpei, Finance Minister Inoue Junnosuke and Communications Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi, began rescue operations. The first measures concerned the stabilization of economic life. On September 7 the government imposed a 30-day moratorium on the payment of debts and interest on loans, and issued a decree prohibiting high interest rates in banks and usury offices. On September 11 an imperial rescript abolished a tax on rice imports, and on September 12 a tax on necessities, building materials, and appliances. On September 22 a system of temporary humanitarian aid was established and a special system of settlements for trade transactions was introduced.
On September 27, the government began issuing money and promissory notes to victims through the National Bank of Japan to rebuild houses. Initially the total amount of the bills was 10 million yen, but the total for 1924 exceeded 43 million yen. This caused a depreciation of the Japanese currency and inflation, which led to the insolvency of the population and the inability to pay back debts to the state. As a result, the country was hit by a financial crisis in 1927. The government also tried to revive the commercial life of the capital with foreign capital, which, however, caused a sharp increase in the national debt.
On the other hand, on September 12, an Imperial Decree was issued to secure public order for the revival of the Imperial Capital. Seven days later the Restoration Council was formed, which drew up a plan to restore Tokyo and Yokohama. It was finally adopted on December 24.
The earthquake covered an area of about 56 thousand km². The main destructive impact was on the southeastern part of Kanto province. Tokyo, Yokohama, Yokosuka and eight other smaller cities were virtually destroyed by the earthquake and the fires that followed. Tokyo fire destroyed more than 300 thousand buildings (out of million), Yokohama quake destroyed 11 thousand buildings and burnt out 59 thousand more. Eleven more cities were less seriously affected.
Of the 675 bridges, 360 were destroyed by fire. Tokyo lost all its stone buildings. The famous Orthodox Resurrection Cathedral, built through the efforts of Bishop Nicholas in 1891, was also destroyed. Only the Imperial Hotel, built the year before by the famous Frank Lloyd Wright, survived. This hotel was the first earthquake-resistant stone building in Japan.
The official death toll was 142,000, another 40,000 were reported missing, and over a million were left homeless. The total number of victims was about 4 million.
Japan”s material losses from the Kanto earthquake were estimated at $4.5 billion, which was at the time two times the country”s annual budget and five times Japan”s expenses in the Russo-Japanese War.
After the earthquake, rumors of rebellion, sabotage of ethnic Koreans, and poisoned wells of Koreans began to spread, causing an ethnic pogrom of Koreans known as the Kanto Massacre. According to independent sources, the death toll was estimated at 6,000 to 10,000.
In the confusion following the earthquake, the Japanese government, using the army and police, began political repression under the pretext of civil unrest.Socialist Hirasawa Keishichi, anarchist Sakae Osugi, anarchist and feminist Noe Ito, and Chinese community leader O Kiten were kidnapped and killed by the Japanese army and police.
The government considered the possibility of moving the capital of Japan. Keijo (now Seoul) was mentioned as one of the options.
The Great Kanto Earthquake occurred at a time of crisis in Japan. It was accompanied by confrontation between different political parties and ideological polarization of Japanese society, which was a consequence of the liberal course of “Taisho democracy. In the international arena, Japan was losing credibility due to growing anti-Japanese sentiment in Korea and China, as well as attempts by Britain and the United States to limit Japan”s presence in the Pacific. Under such circumstances, the Great Kanto Earthquake was not just a simple natural cataclysm, but an important factor that shaped Japan”s future policy and socio-economic development.
The Japanese public, along with politicians, economists and scientists, perceived the earthquake as a “heavenly punishment” for frivolous living and flirting with Western social and political values. Pessimistic sentiments and a sense of future crisis spread among Japanese intellectuals. On November 10, 1923, Emperor Taisho urged his subjects to abandon “luxury, pleasure, grumbling, and pernicious habits” and begin to restore the “true and healthy” national spirit. Under the influence of the monarch”s manifesto, Japanese society”s interest in democratization declined and an atmosphere of distaste for the bearers of Western ideological thinking emerged. At the same time, xenophobic attitudes increased under the influence of the American Immigration Act of 1924, which restricted immigration to the United States by East Asians. After the introduction of the Universal Suffrage Act in March 1925, the rule of law for “Taisho democracy” was curtailed and the basic freedoms and rights of citizens restricted. Japan embarked on the path of building a “corporate society” and developing its own original system of values.
Sources
