Ginza, 1925

Ginza, 1925

Just as the Ginza was hitting its stride as a lively modern sakariba, the Great Kantô Earthquake struck on September 1, 1923, devastating much of it and the rest of Tokyo. It was rebuilt, however, and new branches of Japan's main department stores (Mitsukoshi, Shirokiya, Wako, Takashimaya) began opening up alongside trendy boutiques, beer halls, bars, and cafés. A new Kabuki-za also opened off of the main street. By the mid-1920s the crowds had returned in full force, propelled in part by the construction of a new subway line--the Ginza Line--which would eventually extend from Shibuya to the south to Asakusa to the north. Cars also became more prominent, forcing a narrowing of pedestrian sidewalks, but not a reduction of pedestrians.

Ginza, 1925	Just as the Ginza was hitting its stride as a lively modern sakariba, the Great Kantô Earthquake struck on September 1, 1923, devastating much of it and the rest of Tokyo. It was rebuilt, however, and new branches of Japan's main department stores (Mitsukoshi, Shirokiya, Wako, Takashimaya) began opening up alongside trendy boutiques, beer halls, bars, and cafés. A new Kabuki-za also opened off of the main street. By the mid-1920s the crowds had returned in full force, propelled in part by the construction of a new subway line--the Ginza Line--which would eventually extend from Shibuya to the south to Asakusa to the north. Cars also became more prominent, forcing a narrowing of pedestrian sidewalks, but not a reduction of pedestrians.