On Tuesday we went to the Tokyo-Edo (ed-o) Museum. The Tokyo-Edo Museum is dedicated to the Edo era. Did you know the Tokyo was called Edo before it was called Tokyo? Tongue twister much. We also found out that where we are living (Yotsuya) has a lot of historical site from the Edo era. The Edo Museum is located in Ryogoku (yo-ga-koo). The Edo period ran for 250 years from 1603 to 1868. Tokugawa (to-koo-gah-wah) Ieyasu (ee-ya-sue) was the founder of the Edo period and he was the Shogun from 1603-1605 but remained in power until his death in 1616. Back in the Edo period the commoners (townspeople) didn't have their own bathrooms so they went to a place called and Onsen (on-se-n) which is a communal bath. We walked around the museum with a tour guide that spoke English which was really helpful. One of the things she told us was the Fuji San (mount Fuji) is a symbol of a war ship. I didn't really get that but then I imagined how big a war ship is and how big Mt. Fuji is so there are some similarities. During the Edo period Japan was sealed off for the world with the exception of the Dutch and the Korean.
I have some pictures from the museum down below.
Chloe
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| This is a scale model of a gate at Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu's Grandson's castle. |
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| Same gate, different perspective. |
This is really interesting, Chloe. I didn't know Tokyo used to be called Edo though I have heard the word often. What is a shogun? I imagine he is like a king. Do shogun's still operate/rule in Japan? If so, who is the current shogun. The gates look very elaborate and beautiful.
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