The Sumida River

隅田川Sumidagawa (literally, “corner river,” but actually no known meaning) First a quick note.WordPress isn’t handling footnotes correctly anymore.Not sure why.You’ll have to manually scroll to the end of the article to read them. Sorry about that. I’ve been told by Japanese people that “Japan is a country of water.” The idea being that there’s literally water everywhere and given the abundance of 温泉 onsen hot springs and rivers and… well, it’s a freaking island surrounded by water, I can’t argue with them. But herein lays the problem with this series[i]. When you have lots of water and people are living … Continue reading The Sumida River

Kozukappara Execution Grounds

小塚原死刑場Kozukappara ShikeijōKozukappara Execution Ground This is probably Edo’s 2nd  most notorious execution ground. It definitely has the longest lasting legacy. The facility was in operation from 1651 – 1873. It’s said that 100,000 – 200,000 people were executed here. The killing floor is supposedly under the train tracks, and most of what remains is a small cemetery. Real Edo-kko might tell you that the Jōban and Hibiya lines break down often when passing through here or that the trains slow down so as to not disturb the spirits that haunt the area. Sounds spooky, but totally untrue. This seems to … Continue reading Kozukappara Execution Grounds