A roller coaster rail was threaded through the middle of an empty Ferris wheel

Ferris wheel at Tokyo Dome City Attractions

One of the reasons why Tokyo was chosen as the capital of the new government after the Meiji Restoration, instead of Kyoto or Osaka, was that there was no need to build new government offices because of the residences of feudal lords. As long as the new government could have the clan residence, which had a vast site in the center of Tokyo, vacated to the new government, there was no need to acquire land or, in some cases, even build a new building.

Remnants of this system still remain in the city center, and many large facilities were once the residences of one of the feudal clans. The current site of Sophia University was once the residence of the Owari-Nagoya clan, and the Mita Campus of Keio University was once the residence of the Hizen-Shimabara clan. The Italian Embassy behind Keio University was the former residence of the Iyo Matsuyama clan.

The Tokyo Dome City Attractions, where this photo was taken, was the former residence of the Hitachi Mito clan. The former name of the attraction, Korakuen Yuenchi, was named after the Korakuen Garden, which was located in the clan's residence. However, the domain mansion did not become an amusement park as it was. After the Meiji Restoration, the Tokyo Artillery Arsenal was built in the Mito domain residence, and weapons were manufactured here until 1935 when the arsenal was relocated to Kokura. The fact that the amusement park, now filled with the laughter of families, was once the site of weapons manufacturing makes one want to admire the transformation of the place.

Comment via

日本語