The 3rd workshop of History Project

Date：25.November.2004　17:30-20:00
Place：Hosei Univ. Ichigaya Campus Boissonade Tower 25F Meeting roomB

“River Policies and Ship Transportation in City of Tokyo of Meiji and Taisho Era"
Roderick. I. Wilson
How the ship transportation within Tokyo was changed because of the city's industrialization? What role did ship transportation occupied and what effect did it have in river policy of Department of Interior and urban planning of Tokyo? My presentation aimed at clarifying these points.

River Policies of Department of Interior in Meiji Era
The Meiji government emphasized the importance of infrastructure, for wealth and military strength. The first home minister, Toshimichi Okubo made it a basic river policy of Department of Interior to conduct low-water river work, assigning priority to the ship transportation. The first and second flood control plans focused on high-water work, making navigation of river boats difficult. One of the major reasons why the Department of Interior had abandoned the inner land transportation by water, was the decrease of the need of river transportation, because of the railway development since the late 10s of the Meiji Era. The declining process of rivers differed from those of "kashiba" (boatslip or discharging place). For example, the cargo volume handled in “kashiba" along the Arakawa and Shingashigawa (around Tokyo), slightly increased during two years after the 22nd year of the Meiji Era. It is generally summarized that the ship transportation in the Kanto Plain has declined since the railway construction; however the process varied depending on the goods or place.

Rivers, Urban Planning of Tokyo and Ship Transportation within City of Tokyo
The urban planning proposed in the second decade of the Meiji Era, by Governor of Tokyo who came in Department of Interior, based on the plan by Masataka Kusumoto and Michiyuki Matsuda, emphasized the location of ship transportation. The plan for city development included the new development of 8 rivers, renovation of 22 rivers, and various items involving ship transportation.

Status of Ship Transportation within City of Tokyo
As shown in "Report on Navigation of Rivers within and outside City of Tokyo" based on the survey conducted in the 10th year of the Taisho Era (March 5&6), 20,000 ships navigated a day within and outside Tokyo, and 78% of them were found within the city. The background of these researches was prosperous industry since the 30s of the Meiji Era. The plant location within Tokyo during the latter half of the Meiji and Taisho Era, shows that factories was depending on the ship transportation. The common understanding was that the ship transportation would occupy important role in the future city planning. The cargo stations were built along with canals and river banks; this allows us to consider that the railway and ship transportation maintained mutually complementary relation. Lastly, I will look at the relationship between Tokyo and Yokohama, from the viewpoint of international port. Yokohama was the only international port in the area around Tokyo. The ships of international route were not permitted to come into Tokyo, and this led to the increase of demands of barge, which also clearly shows that the ship transportation was still important at that time.

Conclusion
It may be commonly believed that the ship transportation of Tokyo was gradually vanishing, according to the development of modern traffic infrastructure, centered on the land transportation; however in contrast, urban planning and river policy at that time indicate that the modern land transportation rather activated the ship transportation.
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Waterfront Cities in Southeast Asia
Shoichi Ota
There are two major delta areas in Vietnam; the Song Hong (Red River) Delta in the northern Vietnam centered around Hanoi, and the Mekong Delta around Ho Chi Minh in the southern part of the country. My presentation will focus on the field survey on the developed land in the Mekong Delta.
The historical relationship between cities and waterfront spaces can be found in cities of Vietnam. The maps of Hanoi around the 15th century shows that the city was built based on the concept of the old city; however, the way of using the concept is different from those of other ancient cities such as Chang'an or Heian-kyo, in that the waterway called Song To Lich was used to resemble suzaku-ooji. A rice market was located at the meeting point of the Song Hong Delta and Song To Lich, playing an important role for the commerce. In 1860, Saigon (present Ho Chi Minh) was built as colonial city, based on the city planning with canals flowing within the city. Those canals were reclaimed both in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh, because of sanitary reasons or decline of water transportation. The cities living with water transportation have almost vanished.
In contrast, the developed land of the Mekong Delta still has many villages based on the water transportation. The land-use development for plantation in this area was realized, with canals cut, residential areas located along them, and the hinterland developed at last. While in the vast land other than agricultural use, systematic immigration from the north was used as working power. The following three viewpoints are important to understand the system of developed land for plantation: canal construction, commercial large-scale agriculture, and immigrants as working force.
Now I will offer instances: the Khanh Hau Village and the Khanh Hung Village in Long An Province. The Khanh Hau Village, built in the 18th century, is located along the Rout 1 linking Ho Chi Minh. Comparing to other villages in the surrounding area, these villages are relatively old, and both have cores providing important functions such as religious facilities and market. The space for worship of ancestors and living space are separated in a house, filled with outstanding traditional woodworks. The Khanh Hung Village was newly built near the border with Cambodia in 1989, for the promotion of agricultural economy, using mass immigration from the Khanh Hau Village. With little regard to the traditional organization, the development was based mainly on the administrative planning, resulting to slow the colonization of farmers. The houses can be divided into two types: made by reinforced concrete based on the standard design provided by the administration, and more simple-designed houses built by unskilled workers.
It can be considered that the difference between houses in the Khanh Hau Village and those in the Khanh Hung Village might result from physical elements, such as the limitation of materials, and psychological factors including the consciousness as fixed domicile residents. Furthermore, although both villages were formed based on canals, neither of them show close relation between living and water.