Photo/Illutration Firefighters respond to a fire in Nagoya’s Chikusa Ward on Jan. 11. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Of the many major fires during the Edo Period (1603-1867) in the old capital of Edo, perhaps the best known is the Great Fire of Meireki in 1657, popularly referred to as the “Furisode Fire.”

Starting on Jan. 18, under the traditional lunar calendar in the third year of the Meireki Era of the Edo Period, it developed into three overlapping major conflagrations that raged for three days, killing more than an estimated 100,000 people.

Legend has it that the fire started after a young woman died of a broken heart and a “furisode” long-sleeved kimono was draped over her coffin.

A temple priest resold the garment to a series of young women, all of whom ended up dead.

The terrified priest, believing the furisode to be cursed, burned it at his temple. However, the kimono on fire soared to the sky and started a fire at the temple. The fire spread throughout Edo, reducing the city to ashes.

Such an origin story was apparently created years after the fire, according to the book “Meireki no Taika” (The great fire of Meireki) by Kaoru Iwamoto, an associate professor at Kyoto University’s Graduate School of Engineering, who researched the incident in detail.

Still, there is no doubt that the catastrophe was one of the worst in world history.

Iwamoto notes in his book that until three days before the fire, Edo had 10 consecutive days of sun, and after just one short interval of blustery weather accompanied by snow flurries, the clear weather continued.

A dry spell and strong winds are always the most formidable combination conducive to stoking a fire.

Tokyo registered 21 consecutive days without rain--the second-longest record in history--from late December through Jan. 12.

News reports about fires are becoming more noticeable of late. The Fire and Disaster Management Agency’s annual statistics point to many incidences of fires from January through April.

Basil Hall Chamberlain (1850-1935), a British academic and Japanologist who arrived in Japan in the early Meiji Era (1868-1912), was awed by the plethora of expressions specific to fires in the Japanese language.

They include “tsukebi” (arson), “moraibi” (catching fire), “ruisho” (spreading fire), “shitabi” (fire under control), “hinote” (flames), “hinomoto” (source of the fire) and “kajiminai” (a sympathy visit after a fire), among others.

In his encyclopedic work titled “Things Japanese,” Chamberlain noted to the effect, “Almost every night in winter, the skies over the capital city were scorched by scarlet flames.”

The abundance of fire-related expressions in Japanese is probably indicative of the long Japanese history of being plagued by fires.

I must be careful not to let “jika” (a fire starting in one’s own home) turn out to be “sosobi” (a fire caused by one’s own negligence).

--The Asahi Shimbun, Jan. 18

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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