地震史料集テキストデータベース
[未校訂] Ashock occurred on the 2nd day 10th month 2nd
year of Ansei（1855）at Yedo.The Japan Mail of
September 27,1873,gave the personal experiences and
observations of a former retainer of Rinnôji-no-Miya,
whose Palace was situated at Uyeno.I cannot do better
than quote from it to illustrate the dreadful scenes
produced by the shock in the city.The retainer says
“having returned to my couch that night,but not fallen
asleep,at about ten o'clock I was started by the
karakamii（papered partition）near which I had laid
down,falling suddenly and without hands upon me.
The night lantern（andon）in my apartment was at the
same time upset,and a fellow officer who lay near me
cried out'earthquake!earthquake!'which thoroughly
roused me.I got up and hurriedly attempted to dress
myself;I put on my long robe,and girdle,and was
drawing on my hakama（loose trousers）when my
companion feeling his way after me stepped on one
leg of my trousers,and tored it off.I had previously
rushed into an adjoining room,and then seeing that
the paper lantern by the fire place in the floor was
on fire,had seized a tea kettle that stood near,and
extinguished the fire of burning lantern as also the
live coals in the fire place.Finding that my trousers
were minus a leg,I groped my way baek to my room,
and snatching up another pair,put them under my arm,
and rushed out as fast as I could,to find a place of
safety inthe Palace court.But the house was rocking
to and fro,the plastered walls and the partitions were
shaking as with a violent ague,an dthe mud and boards
were falling all round me.The lintels of the door were
shaken out of their fastenings and dropping on all sides.
Every things upon shelves such as clocks,crockery or
whatever it might be,was thrown down.”After describ-
ing how hesaved his master,who was then over fifty
years of age,he says,“I passed out of the premises to
go home.As I emerged from the gate,Ihad an exten
sive view of the city,and saw flames burning forth
far and near in every quarter.When I reached the
foot of the hill on which the Palace stood,I found the
streets utterly impassable.The roofs of the houses on
both sides had fallen into them,and from beneath the
debris the cries of men,women and children were
heard on all sides calling for others to come to their
rescue.”○中略
In the city itself those places which were swamps
or shoals,such as Honjô,Fukagawa,Yosiwara,shitaya
and Gojingahara where the Tokio Daigaku now stands,
felt the shocks more severely than those high lands
such as Banchô,Fujimichô and Hongô.Fissures were
formed in the banks of Sumidagawa and Nihon-tsutsumi
near Yosiwara.The main buildjngs of the east and west
Honganji,the Zôjôji,seidô and Tôyeizan mido（or temple）
were not injured at all.Mr.Nisimura an officer of the
Mombushô observed at that time that the houses shaken
down at Banchô and Fujimicho were those which were
built with their greater length in the direction N to s.
In all 14,241 dwelling houses and 1,649 fire-proof
storehouses were overturned in the city.
The estimates of the loss of life in this and other
great earthquakes are usually only vague guesses,and
utterly unreliable.No official record of the number is
known to exist.But in some of the popular accounts
which were publised absurdly exaggerated numbers
are mentioned.For instance in Ansei Kembunshi the
author gives 200,000,as the number of lives lost.He
bases his estimate on the alleged supposition that five
burials on an average took place at each temple and
as there were 40,000 temples,the total number would
be 200,000.It is such untrustworthy statements that
have been copied into foreign accounts and are repre-
sented in most of the books on Japan.