This year, 150 years after the Meiji Restoration, I visited the neighborhood that was a foreign settlement. When the Edo era changed to Meiji era, a foreign settlement was opened in gunpowder. Tsukiji Akashicho is a land that was literally built and was called gunshot because it resembles Tanegashima Island. Surrounded by rivers on three sides, close to the sea, and foreign ships entered and exited. The wasteland, which was called Hara of Tsukiji, was developed in a few years to become a new port. Due to the shallow bottom of the port, there were no giant ships, no commercial ports like Yokohama or Kobe, and many missionaries, doctors, and international students emigrated.
The land was auctioned and sold in plots and managed by the luck office. The surrounding area was surrounded by fences, and Western-style buildings such as churches, schools, hospitals, and residences were built. It was regrettable that most of them were lost in the Great Kanto Earthquake.
Toysler, a missionary doctor who came to Japan in 1900, founded St. Luke Hospital in 1902, and in 1936, the St. Luke's Chapel was built on the premises. This neo-Gothic church is called "the heart of St. Luke's International Hospital" by Dr. Hinohara and is popular as a place for prayer for patients, families, hospital staff, students, and local people. Currently, worship is performed every day, and from the Tower of the Cross, a melody of the choir flows three times a day with a bell.
In the courtyard of St. Luke's International Hospital, there are three monuments at the memorial hall where Dr. Toysler's residence and the ruins of the American Embassy. In addition, there are many monuments that originated in this area, such as Rikkyo Gakuin, Women's Academy, and Meiji Gakuin.
Bricks and gas lamps from the settlement period are placed across St. Luke's International Hospital across the settlement street. The back is Akashi Elementary School and the opposite elementary school is the oldest church in Tokyo, Catholic Tsukiji Church. This area is also an area that has survived the war.
Foreign settlements were abolished following the revision of the treaty in 1899, but the Western spirit, knowledge, and culture of that era, including St. Luke's International Hospital, have had a significant impact on the civilization of Japan and have been passed down. Walking around the city, I was able to touch the features of those days here and there.
