Undokai in the city of Tokyo after the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923

A case study at Ueno park

Abstract

The aim of this study is to clarify the cultural characteristics of “Undokai” (Sports day) in the city of Tokyo based on a case study examining an Undokai held in Ueno Park on November 25 after the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923. The study was conducted based on document analysis and showed the following results.
1) The Great Kanto Earthquake caused catastrophic damage to the city of Tokyo, destroying about half of the city area by fire. Afterwards, at least 119 barracks were set up in the city, and in particular, the barracks in Ueno Park (Ikenohata, Miharudai, and Takenodai), which were directly operated by the city of Tokyo, housed over 9,000 victims in total. The people lived as evacuees, sharing limited lifelines in a desperate situ-ation.
2) According to a report by sociologist Gonda Yasunosuke, the evacuated victims sought entertainment in order to regain their "human life," and this was one of the reasons why the Tokyo City Social Education Department developed a series of comfort programs. These programs included the events of Undokai for the purpose of "promoting vitality and fostering physical strength". Regarding the case of Ueno Park, the pho-tographic archive shows a track divided by wooden poles and ropes, a venue decorated with flags and red and white curtains, and many spectators. The number of participants was recorded as 3,000 in the Tokyo city report.
3) According to the newspaper, the Undokai included events such as a parent-child race, an obstacle race, a tug-of-war between barracks, and a 400-meter run for men over 45 years old, etc. Articles reported that the day was "the most lively since the earthquake, with spectators laughing wildlｙ" and "applauding and cheering, the villagers were in a relaxed mood for the first time in a long time". These articles indicate that the Undo-kai was of great significance as a kind of diversion for the participants and as a place to promote communi-cation among the people.
With the findings above, this study concludes that in those days, the Undokai as a comforting program was an es-sential element of comfort for the victims after the disaster. Through the event, the victims as participants fostered the "harmony" between barracks created an extraordinary space within the barrack life. Therefore, creating har-mony and an extraordinary space can be considered the main cultural function of Undokai at the disaster affected area.