A city known for its earthquakes and fires, Tokyo --says British scholar Paul Waley-- is the city of perpetual destroy and rebuild.
Wasn't it also the city Godzilla terrorized again and again?
Even way back when, Edo was called the "city of fires." Famously referred to as Edo no hana (the “flowers of Edo;” from 火事と喧嘩は江戸の花); people suggested that the all too frequent fires of the city resembled “the autumn leaves.”
From fires to earthquakes, a vulnerability to natural (and man-made) disasters remains one of the most enduring tropes or moods of the city. Just recently, in fact, The Guardian had an article which quoted Tokyo University researchers as predicting a 50% chance of Tokyo being struck by a major earthquake in the next four years. They predict about 10,000 fatalities.
飛花落葉
This historical fact has become the way the city imagines itself and given this narrative of the city, it is probably not surprising that the people of Tokyo are known for their celebration of transience and pleasure (pleasure in the face of vulnerability).
浮世
The floating world: to float (浮) signifies sadness in the face of life’s many hardships and pain. From the Heian period it has been used as a metaphor for the suffering of our world. It later became associated with the Buddhist notion of “this transient world” (無常や仮の世) .
In China, I think the term is more traditionally associated with a life of retreat from the world. Alex Kerr mentions the old Chinese novel called 「浮生六記録」"Six Records of a Floating Life," which is a romantic true story of an impoverished scholar and his beloved wife Yun who lived in early 19th century Suzhou. Although poor they tried to live a life of elegance with nature and poetry in a little cottage. This is not unlike Tao Yuanming’s ideal of plucking chrysanthemums by the eastern fence (採菊東籬下) or Lady Li’s sobriquet: "the inhabitant who is easily contented" (易安居士). See here.
In Edo, though, this notion was turned on its head. Rather than seeing it in the pessimistic light of Buddhist philosophy, transience was held up as liberating: “If this moment is all we have, we had better live and love with gusto!” And, so in Edo, the floating world took on the meaning of love affairs and play→遊 For me, this will always be the "spirit of Tokyo."
Natsumi Hayashi Levitates 浮遊！！
Below, my favorite scene from Tokyo Monogatari.
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