“Nobody knew what airplanes were”
Until the 16th Century, Kyoto was the political and economic center of Japan. In contrast, Tokyo was just a remote region and there were large areas of wetlands. Today, we have a key international airport in Haneda city, but 400 years ago, we couldn’t think about flying airplanes.
Definition of waterfront is a part of a land that is next to the water of an ocean, lake and river. Additionally, waterfront means the land has a great possibility of economic growth.
“An Awesome Adjective”
“Edo-Mae” means Tokyo style food (using this word especially for seafood menus) and this is an awesome adjective.
There were so many small fisherman’s villages in Tokyo. At that time, Japanese seafood and dishes became more popular. But, storing seafood was a difficult challenge for old Tokyo people. To prevent food waste, They invented many types of Japanese dishes through trial and error.
And energetic citizens created many types of menu such as Sushi and Tempura. Japanese people had to think about how to preserve seafood, how to keep it in good condition. As a matter of course, nobody had any type of fridge 400 years ago. Tokyo food was not only tasty, its storage stability was extremely excellent.
“Accomplishment of the irrigation project in old Tokyo”
At that time, River controls and irrigation projects were carried out by Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Since water transportation had progressed greatly, Tokyo achieved economic growth in the 17th century.
To improve water transportation, we needed to carry out a wide range construction. And the lord “Ieyasu” enforced irrigation projects and river controls. It was a wide range construction, and finally, they could improve distribution infrastructure. And also, Japanese key industries were Timber, Bamboo, Stone materials, White Rice, Salt and Sugar.
In this way, the Tokugawa government made a strong effort to convert this frontier land to the Glorious city. Those irrigation canals enabled old Tokyo to develop Japanese economics and food logistics.
“Japanese Frontier Spirit”
Originally, EDO-TOKYO was a simple waterfront city. Nowadays, in Tokyo bay district, we have many beautiful sites, seaside parks and amusement parks. You will have a nice chilling and holiday atmosphere at waterfront events such as fireworks and summer festivals. And don’t forget about ordering ice cream, if you have a sweet tooth. Waterfront ice cream is a particular one.
EDO people used to live together with water nature. This frontier spirit is what Japanese people are!
