5 - The Politics of Public Space

Summary

A wide range of Tokyoites took to the streets in protest in the early decades of the twentieth century, revealing competing understandings of public space and different visions of political life. Public spaces such as Ueno Park and Hibiya Park were originally planned by the Meiji government to promote state-driven nation building and imperial modernity. But citizens increasingly made their own claims on these spaces. Hibiya Park, used for official ceremonies and celebrations, also became the city’s preeminent site for unofficial mass political gatherings – a place where citizens exercised their freedom to assemble and to express criticisms of the government. In an era of popular violence, inaugurated by the Hibiya riot of 1905, citizens protested and wrought physical destruction on the city in expressions of economic discontent and in support of democracy, the emperor, and the Japanese empire.