2005 Volume 68 Issue 5 Pages 401-406
This paper analyzes how the riverbank area along the Furukawa River has been evolved since it was officially registered as Kashi in the Meiji era. The evolution of kashi is analyzed from the point of view of land use and ownership. Three kashi, Shibashinbori-kashi, Kitakanasugi-kashi and Minamikanasugi-kashi were investigated. To fully understand the diversity of each kashi, kashichi (each lot of kashi) maps in 1882 and kashichi license documents from 1882 and 1889 were used as the main reference sources. The evolution is analyzed in four periods: pres-Shikukaisei, post-Shikukaisei, post-Great Kanto Earthquake and post-World War II. It was initially decided by law in the Edo era that kashi should remain as open space areas for off-loading. The kashi along the Furukawa River were used differently from that of the center part of Tokyo. Its roles were more to support the backstage of the city of Tokyo with the citys primary industries, sewer system and garbage disposal system. Kashi existed as off-loading places even after WWII in the Showa era. They are still used as mooring and boarding places and many of them still belong to the Metropolis of Tokyo in the Heisei era.
