“The throng of people along this chief and middle street, which is about one hundred and twenty-five feet broad, is incredible. We met as we rode along many numerous trains of princes of the empire and great men at court, and ladies richly apparelled, carried in norimono; and, among other people, a company of firemen on foot, about one hundred in number, walking in much the same military order as ours do in Europe. They were clad in brown leather coats to defend them against the fire; and some carried long pikes, others fire-hooks, upon their shoulders. Their captain rode in the middle. On both sides of the street were multitudes of well-furnished shops of merchants and tradesmen, drapers, silk-merchants, druggists, idol-sellers, booksellers, glass-blowers, apothecaries, and others. A black cloth hanging down covers one half of the shop, of which the front projects a little way into the street, so as to expose to view curious patterns of the goods offered for sale. We took notice that scarce anybody here had curiosity enough to come out of his house to see us go by, as they had done in other places, probably because such a small retinue as ours had nothing remarkable or uncommon to amuse the inhabitants of so populous a city.
“Having rode above two miles along this great street, and passed by fifty other streets, which turned off on both sides, we at last turned in ourselves; and, coming to our inn, found our lodgings ready in the upper story of a back house, which had no other access but through a by-lane. We arrived at one in the afternoon, having completed our journey from Nagasaki in twenty-nine days.
“Yedo,[25] the residence of the emperor, the capital, and by much the largest city of the empire, is seated in the province Musashi, in 35° 32´ of northern latitude (according to Kämpfer’s observations), on a large plain, at the head of a gulf, plentifully stored with fish, crabs, and other shell-fish, but so shallow, with a muddy clay at the bottom, that no ships of bulk can come up to the city, but must be unladen a league or two below it.
“Towards the sea the city hath the figure of a half-moon, and the Japanese will have it to be seven of their miles (about sixteen English miles) long, five (twelve English) broad, and twenty (fifty English) in circumference. It is not enclosed with a wall, no more than other towns in Japan, but cut through by many broad canals, with ramparts raised on both sides, and planted at the top with rows of trees, not so much for defence as to prevent the fires—which happen here too frequently—from making too great a havoc.
“A large river, rising westward of the city, runs through it, and loses itself in the harbor. It sends off a considerable arm, which encompasses the castle, and thence falls into the harbor, in five different streams, every one of which hath its particular name, and a stately bridge over it. The chief, and most famous, of these bridges, two hundred and fifty-two feet in length, is called Nihonbashi, or the bridge of Japan, mention of which has already been made, as the point from which distances are reckoned all over the empire.
“Yedo is not built with that regularity which is observable in most other cities in Japan (particularly Miyako), and this because it swelled by degrees to its present bulk. However, in some parts the streets run regularly enough, cutting each other at right angles,—a regularity entirely owing to accidents of fire, whereby some hundred houses being laid in ashes at once, as, indeed, very frequently happens, the new street may be laid out upon what plan the builders please.” Many places, which have been thus destroyed by fire, were noticed by Kämpfer still lying waste. “The houses are small and low, built of fir wood, with thin clayed walls, divided into rooms by paper screens and lattices, the floors covered with mats, and the roofs with shavings of wood. The whole machine being thus but a composition of combustible matter, we need not wonder at the great havoc fires make in this country. Here, as elsewhere, almost every house hath a place under the roof, or upon it, where they constantly keep a tub full of water, with a couple of mats, which may be easily come at, even from without the house; by which precaution they often quench a fire in particular houses; but it is far from being sufficient to stop the fury of a raging flame which has got ground already, against which they know no better remedy but to pull down some of the neighboring houses which have not yet been reached, for which purpose whole companies of firemen patrol about the streets day and night.
“The city is well stocked with monks, temples, monasteries, and other religious buildings, which are seated in the best and pleasantest places, as they are, also, in Europe, and, I believe, in all other countries. The dwelling-houses of private monks are no ways different from those of the laity, excepting only that they are seated in some eminent conspicuous place, with some steps leading up to them, and a small temple or chapel hard by, or, if there be none, at least a hall, or large room, adorned with some few altars, on which stand several of their idols. There are, besides, many stately temples built to Amida, Shaka, Kwannon, and several other of their gods, not necessary to be particularly described here, as they do not differ much in form or structure from other temples erected to the same gods at Miyako, which we shall have an opportunity to view and describe more particularly upon our return to that city.
“There are many stately palaces in Yedo, as may be easily conjectured, by its being the residence of the emperor, and the abode of all the noble and princely families. They are distinguished from other houses by large court-yards and stately gates. Fine varnished staircases, of a few steps, lead up to the door of the house, which is divided into several magnificent apartments, all of a floor, they being not above one story high, nor adorned with towers, as the castles and palaces are where the princes and lords of the empire reside in their hereditary dominions.
“The city of Yedo is a nursery of artists, handicraftsmen, merchants, and tradesmen, and yet everything is sold dearer than anywhere else in the empire, by reason of the great concourse of people, and the number of idle monks and courtiers, as, also, the difficulty of importing provisions and other commodities.
“The political government of this city is much the same as at Nagasaki and Ōsaka. Two governors have the command of the town by turns, each for the space of one year. The chief subaltern officers are the Burgomasters, as the Dutch call them, or mayors, who have the command of particular quarters, and the Ottona, who have the inspection and subordinate command of single streets.