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Title: The 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake: The History and Legacy of the Earthquake That Destroyed Tokyo

Author: Charles River Editors

Narrator: William Turbett

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 46 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-01-15

Publisher: Charles River Editors

Genres: History, World

Publisher's Summary:

Of the numerous disasters, both natural and man-made, to strike Japan during the 20th century, the Great Kant Earthquake was among the worst, and the most significant. The massive earthquake struck the Japanese capital region, including the cities of Tokyo and Yokohama, shortly before noon on Saturday, September 1, 1923, causing immense physical destruction. Buildings collapsed, crushing their occupants, and a tsunami assaulted miles of coastline, depositing boats well inland and dragging people, structures, and debris out to sea. In both Tokyo and Yokohama, the tremors set off firestorms that raged for days across the dense, wooden cityscapes. In all, the earthquake left perhaps 140,000 dead and more than 2 million homeless, transforming East Asia's most prosperous and modern urban area into a scorched, burned-out wasteland. On the day of the earthquake, according to the Buddhist figure Takashima Beih, "Nature raged all at once, collapsing the pillars of the sky and snapping the axis of the earth. The big city of Tokyo, the largest in the Orient, at the zenith of its prosperity, burned down and melted away over two days and three nights."

Together, the earthquake and firestorm killed somewhere between 100,000 and 150,000, left more than a million homeless, and destroyed billions of yen worth of property. The best estimates are that up to 75% of all buildings in Tokyo were destroyed or seriously damaged, and while all of Tokyo was afflicted, the low city especially suffered. The five city wards in which damage was greatest (90% or more) were all located in the low city. The proud neighborhoods around Nihonbashi and Kybashi were particularly gutted, and many symbols of the Mieji-era shitamachi, such as the original Shinbashi Station, the Mitsukoshi Department Store, the Asakusa Twelve-Stories, were destroyed in the conflagration.

Members Reviews:

Concise history of the Great Kanto EQ

For someone unfamiliar with the Great Kanto Earthquake, this is a very good collection of facts that sequentially tell the story of this 1923 event, through quotes of individual published accounts of personal experiences. It is an excellent starting point for someone needing a quick but thorough overview of this quadruple disaster.

EXCELLENT

This ebook gives a view of the Kanto earthquake of 1923.

We also have look at the culture of Japan.

An informative history

This was a time in history that I knew little about. The book is informative and easy to access, and provides in-depth details about a terrible event. In this time when the internet allows us to follow disasters in great detail, I found this book to answer my questions about how people in other times experienced such trauma.

All you need to know about 1923 Tokyo destruction and World War II firebombing

Very interesting story of 1923 earthquake and the aftermath. I would never had read about this earthquake, if it had not been presented in a brief overview. The book also compared the destruction of the Great Kanto earthquake to the firebombing of World War II. This is an excellent read, I highly recommend.

Destruction from below

Good overview of this destructive quake. The quake and tsunami of 2011 of Eastern Japan reminds us of the continued vulnerability of this ancient land.