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Firefighting in Japan
Firefighting in Japan (Japanese: 消防, Hepburn: Shōbō) is coordinated by local government with assistance and oversight from central government. Organized firefighting was first established in the Edo era to deal with threats posed to government property and power by the frequent devastating fires of the period; it was originally established along the lines of the local feudal system, with samurai and other local officials engaging in firefighting. However, as time went on and Japan adopted a more western-style system of government, organised fire brigades were established similar to those in the western world.
Today, firefighting is mainly provided by professional municipal fire departments, with some assistance from local volunteer fire corps. Fire departments are responsible not only for firefighting, but also for fire safety enforcement, disaster prevention and response, and emergency medical services. Municipalities are responsible for establishing municipal departments and volunteer corps, with assistance and funding provided by prefectures and the Fire and Disaster Management Agency (FDMA).
Prior to the Edo era, there was no organized firefighting organisations, despite frequent devastating conflagrations; these fires found abundant fuel in the buildings of the period, which were mainly constructed with wood and paper as frequent earthquakes and hot summers precluded the use of heavier materials such as stone and brick (which were already in limited supply). Instead, earthen storehouses were used to store valuable goods, and simple wooden construction techniques allowed for easy rebuilding after a fire.
The first firefighting force in Japan is believed to be the hōsho bikeshi, established in 1629, composed of members of more than 10 feudal families. In the event of a fire, the shogun would send a servant to fetch them to fight it; this was evidently a slow process and only yielded a small and unprofessional force, and as a result, the hōsho bikeshi were largely ineffective when confronted with the Fire of Oke-machi in 1641. As a result, the daimyō bikeshi (大名火消) were established in 1643, and were composed of samurai appointed by the local feudal lord or daimyō (大名). As well as firefighting, these samurai enforced strict fire control rules on the local populations, such as maintaining night fire watches, forbidding the lighting of candles in upper-floor rooms, and imprisoning the owners of houses where fires had started.
In 1657, the Great Fire of Meireki ripped through the de facto capital of Edo (the site of modern-day Tokyo), destroying 60-70% of the city and killing over 100,000 people, with the local daimyō bikeshi brigades too undermanned, underequipped, and inexperienced to deal with such a large fire. This failure of fire control represented a severe threat to the authority of the ruling military shogunate, and so one year later the jō bikeshi (定火消) was established as a full-time brigade made up of hatamoto samurai directly under the command of the shogun. This brigade was mainly concerned with the protection of the shogun's properties, such as Edo Castle, however did cooperate with the daimyō bikeshi to deal with fires in common areas, so as to not let them spread.
Alongside the samurai firefighters, local tana bikeshi (店火消) brigades began to form, composed of local commoner businessmen who wished to protect their properties. In 1720, the Kyōhō Reforms reorganised this system, forming machi bikeshi (町火消), composed of commoners appointed by the town official. Over time, these brigades began to grow and were recognised as a competent firefighting force, even assisting the samurai brigades in extinguishing the Edo Castle Fire in 1747.
By the time the Meiji era emerged, most firefighting across Japan was undertaken by machi bikeshi, and the number of samurai firefighters had dropped significantly. As a result of reforms in the 1880s following the Meiji restoration, career fire brigades across the country were absorbed into local police departments, where they became known as tokusetsu shōbō sho (特設消防署), whereas volunteer firefighters were reorganised into groups known as shōbō gumi (消防組) under the control of the governor of the prefecture. However, there was little change; fire services remained poorly trained and equipped, and Japanese cities remained largely vulnerable to regular major fires.
Throughout the Taishō and early Shōwa eras, this system remained largely unchanged until 1939 when the government, anticipating the Pacific War, reorganised the shōbō gumi into the new keibō dan (警防団) civil defense organizations, and the number of cities with career tokusetsu shōbō sho was increased.
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Firefighting in Japan
Firefighting in Japan (Japanese: 消防, Hepburn: Shōbō) is coordinated by local government with assistance and oversight from central government. Organized firefighting was first established in the Edo era to deal with threats posed to government property and power by the frequent devastating fires of the period; it was originally established along the lines of the local feudal system, with samurai and other local officials engaging in firefighting. However, as time went on and Japan adopted a more western-style system of government, organised fire brigades were established similar to those in the western world.
Today, firefighting is mainly provided by professional municipal fire departments, with some assistance from local volunteer fire corps. Fire departments are responsible not only for firefighting, but also for fire safety enforcement, disaster prevention and response, and emergency medical services. Municipalities are responsible for establishing municipal departments and volunteer corps, with assistance and funding provided by prefectures and the Fire and Disaster Management Agency (FDMA).
Prior to the Edo era, there was no organized firefighting organisations, despite frequent devastating conflagrations; these fires found abundant fuel in the buildings of the period, which were mainly constructed with wood and paper as frequent earthquakes and hot summers precluded the use of heavier materials such as stone and brick (which were already in limited supply). Instead, earthen storehouses were used to store valuable goods, and simple wooden construction techniques allowed for easy rebuilding after a fire.
The first firefighting force in Japan is believed to be the hōsho bikeshi, established in 1629, composed of members of more than 10 feudal families. In the event of a fire, the shogun would send a servant to fetch them to fight it; this was evidently a slow process and only yielded a small and unprofessional force, and as a result, the hōsho bikeshi were largely ineffective when confronted with the Fire of Oke-machi in 1641. As a result, the daimyō bikeshi (大名火消) were established in 1643, and were composed of samurai appointed by the local feudal lord or daimyō (大名). As well as firefighting, these samurai enforced strict fire control rules on the local populations, such as maintaining night fire watches, forbidding the lighting of candles in upper-floor rooms, and imprisoning the owners of houses where fires had started.
In 1657, the Great Fire of Meireki ripped through the de facto capital of Edo (the site of modern-day Tokyo), destroying 60-70% of the city and killing over 100,000 people, with the local daimyō bikeshi brigades too undermanned, underequipped, and inexperienced to deal with such a large fire. This failure of fire control represented a severe threat to the authority of the ruling military shogunate, and so one year later the jō bikeshi (定火消) was established as a full-time brigade made up of hatamoto samurai directly under the command of the shogun. This brigade was mainly concerned with the protection of the shogun's properties, such as Edo Castle, however did cooperate with the daimyō bikeshi to deal with fires in common areas, so as to not let them spread.
Alongside the samurai firefighters, local tana bikeshi (店火消) brigades began to form, composed of local commoner businessmen who wished to protect their properties. In 1720, the Kyōhō Reforms reorganised this system, forming machi bikeshi (町火消), composed of commoners appointed by the town official. Over time, these brigades began to grow and were recognised as a competent firefighting force, even assisting the samurai brigades in extinguishing the Edo Castle Fire in 1747.
By the time the Meiji era emerged, most firefighting across Japan was undertaken by machi bikeshi, and the number of samurai firefighters had dropped significantly. As a result of reforms in the 1880s following the Meiji restoration, career fire brigades across the country were absorbed into local police departments, where they became known as tokusetsu shōbō sho (特設消防署), whereas volunteer firefighters were reorganised into groups known as shōbō gumi (消防組) under the control of the governor of the prefecture. However, there was little change; fire services remained poorly trained and equipped, and Japanese cities remained largely vulnerable to regular major fires.
Throughout the Taishō and early Shōwa eras, this system remained largely unchanged until 1939 when the government, anticipating the Pacific War, reorganised the shōbō gumi into the new keibō dan (警防団) civil defense organizations, and the number of cities with career tokusetsu shōbō sho was increased.