Taiho-Jutsu. Don Cunningham

      The major avenues through the shita-machi were fairly broad and lined with a variety of different stores and shops. Between and behind these buildings, though, the narrow back alleys twisted and turned through the workshops and homes of various artisans, skilled craftsmen, merchants, and common laborers. Most craftsmen and laborers tended to gather in the same areas as others involved in their trade, so many such small districts were also named by the kind of workers living there. Thus, some neighborhoods consisting of complicated back alleys and narrow side streets became known as Tatami-machi (tatami- or straw-mat-maker town), Oke-machi (bucket-maker town), Daiku-machi (carpenter town), or Kaji-machi (blacksmith town).

Edo no hana (flowers of Edo)

      Most buildings were constructed primarily of wood and paper. For heating and cooking, people depended on charcoal braziers and stoves. Oil lamps with open flames were often used for indoor lighting. As a result, there were many fires. In fact, fires were so common, they were known as Edo no hana (flowers of Edo).

      During the early years, the various daimy

involved in building Edo and fortifying the castle also organized firefighting units, called the daimy hikeshi (firemen), to protect the castle and their own manors. Later, the sh

gun’s retainers, the hatamoto, operated the sada-bikeshi, a similar group of firefighters, primarily to protect the castle. After more than one hundred thousand perished (nearly one-quarter of the city’s population) and most of the city was destroyed in the Meireki fire during the first month of 1657, however, the responsibility for protecting citizens and property from fire was shifted the following year to the Edo machibugy

(town magistrate). Edo’s firefighters were organized as the machi-bikeshi (town firemen).

      To prevent future disasters and to guard against urban fires, the Tokugawa sh

gunate erected a number of high wooden watchtowers, called hi no ban, throughout the city and organized kumi (units) of professional hikeshi. Because the work was so dangerous, though, only the lowest classes of Edo’s ch

nin—the homeless, the unemployed, former criminals, and so on—were initially willing to enter this trade. Under supervision of the machi-bugy

, the newly recruited hikeshi in each kumi were divided into smaller units and assigned to various geographical jurisdictions.

      In case of a building fire, the hikeshi were mainly concerned with containing damage and preventing the flames from spreading to other structures. Thus, the hikeshi primarily employed a number of tobi-ninsku¹⁴ (building construction specialists) to quickly tear down the burning structure and any surrounding houses or buildings to create firebreaks. In addition to the tobi-nins

ku, the kumi members also included matoi-mochi (banner holders), hashigo-mochi (ladder holders), and hira (runners and porters) for carrying equipment. Finally, local helpers known as gaen cleared roads, dispersed crowds, and held back bystanders.

      Frequently seen leading the processions in local festival parades, the matoi was much more than a simple unit banner. A matoi consisted of many strips of either very thick paper or soft cloth strung from a single pole. During a fire, the hikeshi would use a small hand-operated pump called a ryudosui (dragon spitting water) to soak the matoi strips. Then the matoi-mochi would station themselves on the peaks of nearby buildings and spin the matoi by twisting the pole back and forth. Burning embers rising in the heated air would either be trapped in the matoi and extinguished by the water-drenched strips or be pushed back to the source by the gusts created by the spinning strips.

      

      Replacements would line up on the roof peak behind the person turning the matoi. Should the first matoi-mochi succumb to smoke inhalation or heat from the fire below, the next in line would replace him. As each individual matoi-mochi collapsed and fell from the roof, another would assume responsibility for spinning the matoi until the fire was extinguished by fellow hikeshi working below.

      Known for their acrobatic skill and athletic abilities, the hashigo-mochi would station themselves in strategic locations around the fire. Bracing a ladder upright with several sasumata, long wooden poles with a U-shaped iron appendage, one hashigo-mochi would then climb to the top. After noting the wind’s direction and speed from his perch high above on the ladder, the hashigo-mochi would then assume a predefined acrobat-like position to signal the wind conditions to those below. Based on their observations of several hashigo-mochi stationed on temporarily erected ladders around the fire, supervisors on the ground could then judge the fire’s direction and decide on the best locations for creating firebreaks to stop it from spreading.

      In return for these services, the respective neighborhoods provided hikeshi with a small salary and a suit of clothing made of a special thickly woven cotton. When doused with water, this heavy clothing provided limited protection from burns. Although admired greatly by the common people for their courage and personal sacrifice, the city’s firefighters also quickly earned a reputation for their course language, quick temper, and rough-and-tumble manners.

Feudal life on the road

      Highway travel was common during the feudal era, or Edo period. There were three main roads between Edo and the former capital city of Kyoto: the T

kaid

, the Kiso Kaid

, and the Nakasend

. Because the latter two pass through steep mountain passes, the T

kaid

became the most frequently used of the three. The highway was scene to a nearly constant flow of merchants, villagers, and the many religious pilgrims visiting the principal temples and shrines in western Japan.

      Because wheeled vehicles were banned, for fear of providing rapid transport of arms and troops in case of revolt, travelers either walked, rode on horseback, or were carried in kag, a sort of one-person carriage carried on the shoulders of bearers. Made of split bamboo, the kag

consisted of a single woven bamboo seat hung from a long pole. The bamboo pole was carried on the shoulders of two men, one in front and one behind. In mountainous regions, additional runners frequently used straw ropes to help pull the kag

up the steeper grades. Passengers rode in a recumbent position with their feet doubled under them. Sometimes the kag

included a light roof with a cotton cloth hung on one side to provide shade.