Literature of the Modern City

Looking back at the rapid cultural and social development of Tokyo after the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, the Edo-Tokyo Open-Air Architectural Museum in Koganei puts on an exhibit featuring literary works and related materials describing this push of modernity. Books like Yasunari Kawabata's 'The Scarlet Gang of Asakusa' and Kafu Nagai's 'Tsuyu no Atosaki' describe how areas such as Asakusa, Ginza and Shinjuku grew into entertainment centres and symbols of a new Tokyo.