Urban popular culture, family structure, and railroads

FC 84, April 11, 2005

Tokyo subways

Tokyo suburban railways

Tokyo on the rails

First rail from Yokohama to Shimbashi –1872

Rail extended to Tokyo Station– 1915Completion of Yamanote loop – 1925

Network of trollies within Yamanote loopFirst subway (Ginza Line) – 1927 (from

Asakusa to Ueno (about 2 miles); extended to Ginza and Shibuya, 1939

Tokyo on the rails

• Second wave of subway construction for the 1964 Olympics

• Currently 13 subway lines• JR commuter rail system (Yamanote line)• Approximately 12 private suburban rail

lines

Takarazuka

Takarazuka

Takarazuka

Famous theatrical/muscial troupe or revue

Somewhat like the Rockefeller Center Rockettes – dance, music, glamour

All-female revue – conceived of as “female Kabuki” (Kabuki only has male actors)

Takarazuka

Takarazuka

Takarazuka

Fantastically popular popular culture since the 1920s

Many adoring female fans

An example of Osaka-based popular culture becoming national

(1920s prosperity of Osaka, destruction of Tokyo)

Taishō Tokyo vs. Osaka

• Osaka remained center of manufacturing and trade; especially prospered during the WWI boom – when Japan began to dominate Asian markets

• 1923 Kanto earthquake, destroyed Tokyo – gave Osaka an edge, but also focused government efforts on rebuilding and modernizing Tokyo

Takarazuka

New Takarazuka theater

in central Tokyo

Takarazuka

Appealed to the growth of (invention of) the shojo (the maiden) as a cultural/social fixture

Related to the elongation of adolescence and pre-adult status as a result of industrial modernity, education system, nuclear family system

From Shojo to Moga

Ginbura

Takarazuka

Takarazuka and the development of “railroad urbanism”

Hankyu railroad, private RR in Osaka area

Built Takarazuka amusement park at one end of line, developed department stores at other end

Railroad urbanism

• Integration of commuter railways• Department stores at terminals – urban

nodes• Real estate developments along the rail

right of way – extremely dense housing• Amusement parks, sports teams, other

attractions at the distant end of the rail lines

Tokyo rail/subway system

Railroad urbanism

Fundamentally shaped the character of urban experience in Osaka and Tokyo from the 1920s to the present-day

Tokyo – Tokyu line, Keio line, Odakyu line, Seibu line, Tobu line, each “controlling”development in particular sectors of Tokyo suburbs

Railroad urbanism

The creation of the “ekimae” – the station plaza

At first sites of civic grandeur

By 1920s, taking on character of sakariba –entertainment districts (in Edo, these were at bridges and along canals; Tokyo, around stations)

Shimbashi, 1906

Tokyo Station, ca. 1915

Shinjuku

• the archetypical “new urban center” of the 1920s

• commuting terminal for western suburbs• “modern popular culture”• department stores, bars, clubs, music

halls• salarymen and flappers

Moga (“modern girl”)