Creation of “Citizens” Through Urbanization in the Modern Era: A Case Study of the Transformation of Minatogawa Park After the Rice Riots

Abstract

This paper reveals how the creation of “citizens” after rice riots made the urban space, as a case study of the transformation of Minatogawa Park in Kobe city. After the rice riots and the labor disputes, the city’s administration installed a public market and an employment agency. As Minatogawa Park was close to the slums, which included the labor and entertainment areas of the city, the city administration improved the park by enhancing these areas. In addition, by including a concert hall and children’s park, Minatogawa Park was transformed into a space that cultivated people of all ranks to “citizens.” The “citizens” were regarded as the users of Minatogawa Park, but many homeless people also made use of the park. In the beginning, the city’s administration considered homeless people to be the beneficiaries of the administration’s efforts. However, these people were regarded as the objects of exclusion or oppression due to the development of the park for the “citizens” and the commemorative events celebrating the enthronement ceremony of the Showa Emperor (Showa Tairei). The park came to be used by the “industrious citizens” who actively managed their private lives, while homeless people were regarded as “lazy” people who deviated from this norm. Thus, after the rice riots, Minatogawa Park became a space in which all ranks of people were accommodated based on their success or failure in the process of classification as “citizens.”