
Fires in Edo

Fires in , the former name of Tokyo, during the Edo period (1600−1868) of Japan were so frequent that the city of Edo was characterized as the saying goes. Even in the modern days, the old Edo was still remembered as the .
Edo was something of a rarity in the world, as vast urban areas of the city were repeatedly leveled by fire. The great fires of Edo were compared to the Chinese gods of fire and , and also humorously described as "autumn leaves".
Frequency of fires.
During the 267 years between 1601 ("Keichō" 6), the year after the , and 1867 ("Keiō" 3), the year of , Edo was struck by 49 great fires. In comparison, during the same period, great fires in Kyoto, Osaka and Kanazawa totaled only nine, six, and three, respectively, which made Edo's figure stand out from the other metropolises in Japan. According to other accounts, there were more than 85 major fires during the history of Edo.
Between 1600 and 1945, Edo/Tokyo was leveled every 25–50 years or so by fire, earthquakes, tsunami, volcanic eruptions, and war.
If smaller fires are also included, of the 1,798 fires that occurred in those 267 years, 269 were in 1601–1700, 541 in 1701–1800, and 986 in 1801–1867. Edo prospering as its population increased, the number of fires also increased proportionally. In particular, the 17 years between 1851 ("Kaei" 3) and 1867 saw 506 fires, to which unstable public order caused by the incapable administration of the Tokugawa shogunate was a major contributing factor.
Representative great fires.
The following table lists some representative great fires in the history of Edo that caused catastrophic casualties and damages. The three that occurred in the eras of "Meireki", "Meiwa" and "Bunka" were called the . The Great Fire of Meireki in 1657 is considered to have been the most disastrous. Fires often quickly escalating, spreading through neighbourhoods of wooden "machiya" that were heated with charcoal fires. Apart from great fires, there were also series of continuous small fires that resulted in larger casualties and damages than a single great fire.
! colspan="2" | Date
! colspan="2" | Name
! colspan="2" | Casualties
! colspan="4" | Damages
! Gregorian
! Japanese (year/month/day)
! English
! Japanese
! Killed
! Missing
! Towns
! Samurai houses
! Temples & shrines
! "Chōnin" houses