Sea Fort No. 2 of Tokyo Bay is an abandoned military fort located in the central part of Tokyo Bay, which was constructed in the last half of Meiji period. The fort was a civil engineering structure constructed of concrete, brick, stone and soil. And, it is a century-old modern heritage. Its construction record on design, construction works and cross section of completed facility does not exist, because it was a military facility. Here we characterized the brick of the fort. Comparing the result with similar vicinal facilities, we looked at the procurement of Tokyo Bay forts' brick in Meiji period. And, we presumed the construction year of the brick structures and the systems to procure construction materials.

View full abstract

 In early-modern times, Sakai city and the Hankai Tramway managed Ohama Park. This paper describes the formation process of Ohama park and its built environment by using historical documents as an official record of the municipal assembly and newspaper, maps, photographs and so on. Sakai city borrowed a national land and managed it as an amusement park, and rented the land to make the maintenance and operation cost. Later Sakai city aimed to develop the park with a national industrial exhibition as an opportunity and expanded the park several times. Sakai City had succeeded to collaborate with Hankai Tramway Co., Ltd., that competed with the Nankai Electric Railway, for the park management. and Hankai Tramway Co., Ltd. built the park facilities with an agreement on making a park plan with Sakai city. Though the agreement broke down on the ground of differences of management policies, Ohama park furnished the modern resort facilities and was thronged with people.

View full abstract

 The waterway network called Ogawa Waterway which was used as domestic water and garden ponds has been well developed in the castle town of Obata, Gunma Prefecture, and has been an important component of local historic environment. However, because of the lack of historical materials, the formation and the transition of Ogawa Waterway has not been fully clarified. For that reason, the historic value of the waterway has not been understood.
 In this study, based on analysis of historical picture maps of the castle town and field survey of the waterway, the formation and the transition of Ogawa Waterway has been revealed. Also, based on a questionnaire survey and a hearing survey to residents in Obata area, current status and transition of the use and the maintenance of Ogawa Waterway has been found out.
 Using these findings, the historic value of the waterway has been explained. The authors believe that these study results are useful for maintenance and improvement of the historic environment of the castle town of Obata.

View full abstract

 This study aims to investigate the urban history and thoughts of city planning in Otsu in the 1920-30s, clarifying the concept of “Tourist City” and concrete ideas of road network and lake reclamation plan of Otsu, and its planning process. The summary and achievements of the study are as below. Otsu city and Shiga prefecture attempted to realize lake reclamation and lakeside promenade several times in the 1910-1920s. Then Otsu city held up a concept of “Tourist City” as a main aim of city planning in the latter half of the 1920s. The plan for the city of Otsu including road network and lake reclamation determined in 1932 was intended to connect tourist sites and build recreational facilities, and improve the scenic beauty of the lakeside. Lake reclamation of Otsu city was realized partially in prewar times by selling municipal reclaimed land, and the lake promenade was constructed before 1960s even though a large part of the promenade lacked its original aims. Otsu city had carried out these infrastructure construction projects by the long-term collaboration with Shiga Prefecture.

View full abstract

 Sea Fort No. 2 of Tokyo Bay is one of Tokyo Bay fortress. Buildings of the upper part, such as the gun turrets and storehouses were started construction from 1900. The currently exposed outer walls of its concrete and brick structures are coated with a viscous substance similar to asphalt or coal tar. At the time, all of the Sea Fort No. 2 of Tokyo Bay was covered with soil, it had been an underground structure. Therefore, it was considered to have been applied for the purpose of waterproofing.
 As part of a survey of buried cultural properties, this paper reports an investigation of the exterior of, including a chemical analysis of the waterproofing material applied to, this Meiji Era fortress. Specifically, it reports a study of the Meiji Era waterproofing technique applied to Sea Fort No. 2 in comparison to modern materials and with reference to the prior literature.

View full abstract