This article considers the establishment and transformation of crematories in Meiji-era Tokyo through analysis of crematory locations, regulations, and drawings. In the first half of the Meiji period, crematories in Tokyo were not only the sites of personal and family ritual observances, but they also gradually came to be public urban spaces restricted by regulations directed at urban hygiene. Specific changes included: 1. The perception of crematories changed from a viewpoint of crematories as harmful institutions to an acknowledgement of crematories as facilities for urban hygiene. At the same time, crematories became carefully regulated through laws concerning air quality, and the location and maximum number of facilities and cremation furnaces. 2. While the Tokyo Urban Improvement Plan relocated the eastern Tokyo crematories in Machiya and Ogishinden somewhat beyond the old Edo city limits (shubikisen), the 3 west side crematories in Eirigaya, Yoyogi, and Ochiai remained unchanged from the latter half of the Edo period. 3. The architectural form of the crematories changed from wood and plaster construction (mokuzo nuriya-zukuri) to brick construction (renga-zukuri), and the installation of chimneys, smoke control (recombustion) equipment, and excretions incineration facilities came to be required.
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