Page 20 - (DK Eyewitness) Top 10 Travel Guide - Tokyo

18 ❯❯ Top 10 Tokyo Highlights

Edo-Tokyo Museum

Charting the history of Edo and Tokyo, the Edo-Tokyo Museum is
housed in an elevated building that resembles an intergalactic space
station floating on stilts. Its height, which dwarfs every other building
nearby, matches that of Edo Castle, and the raised edifice is modeled
after a traditional Japanese rice storehouse. More modern touches
include the red escalator that rises from the terrace to the under-
belly of the cantilevered upper stories, and the panels coated with
fluorine resin. Highlights include a replica of Nihonbashi bridge and
an evocative reconstruction of the 1945 air raids that ravaged Tokyo.
Ginza 1
Streetscape
This museum exhibits a
number of small-scale
models such as this one
(right) of the Ginza district
during the Meiji era (1868–
1912). This shows Ginza
during a time when
Western-style architec-
ture had started to make
a big impact on Tokyo.
Photos of Edo-
2
Meiji Periods
By the Meiji era, sepia-
toned images of samurais
and rickshaw pullers
became outdated. These
gave way to photos of
Western-style hotels,
trams, exhibition sites,
and factories along the
Nihonbashi
Daimyo
Sumida River. 5 6
Lodgings
Bridge
Life of
3 The sixth-floor model of The sixth floor
Craftsmen
leads directly onto a
the grand estates of
and Townspeople daimyo (feudal lords) was recons tructed section
The life of ordinary skillfully reconstructed of Nihonbashi bridge.
people can be seen in the from old prints and plans. The carpentry and
seventh-floor models of joinery of the original
townspeople’s residen ces, bridge, which was rebuilt
and the well-crafted several times, can be
mock-ups of the seen in the replica.
commer cial city
Portable
on the fifth floor. 7
Festival
Districts
Floats
4 Exquisite omikoshi (left)
Models on the
sixth floor show the are crafted for use at
Edo-era residential tra ditional festivals. The
districts. The fifth floor portable floats are gold-
features villages and river plated and encrusted
islands connected to Edo. with precious stones.
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