Teito Monogatari:
The Tale of the Imperial Capital
Part 3: The Book of Catastrophe
Author: Hiroshi Aramata
Part 2: The Imperial Capital is Destroyed
Chapter 1: First Report of the Great Kantō Earthquake
EXTRA EDITION OF THE JIJI SHIMPŌ, SEPTEMBER 2
A Violent Earthquake Strikes the Imperial Capital; Greater Tōkyō in Flames
A catastrophic disaster has occurred in Tōkyō and Yokohama, unprecedented in recorded history. The earth convulsed. The city burned.
At 11:58 a.m. on September 1, the ground began to shake back and forth and up and down. The tremors would not cease.
Great high-rise buildings collapsed in an instant. The earth split open and spouted water. People were crushed beneath roof beams. Many were injured. Many were killed. The scenes of confusion defy description.
While the tremors were still at their height, collapsed houses caught fire. Sparks scattered like rain. More than 120 places ignited. Flames spread to areas that had escaped the initial disaster. The splendor of Tōkyō is being consumed by a great conflagration. The city has transformed into a vast, desolate, burned-out wasteland.
In this emergency, the Jiji Shimpō company itself was struck by fierce flames on the evening of the 1st. We lost our headquarters and factory.
That night we purchased several monotype machines from the Japan Typewriter Company. Today, the 2nd, we have issued the only extra edition among Tōkyō newspapers.
We believe we will soon be able to deliver more detailed reports to our readers.
—The Jiji Shimpō Company
Translator's Note
Jiji shimpō (“Current Events”) was one of Japan’s most influential newspapers and a training ground for many liberal politicians and journalists from the 1880s into the 20th century.
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