【Reading】かんとうだいしんさい

【English Name】Great Kanto Earthquake

The Great Kanto Earthquake was a disaster caused by a massive earthquake that struck the southern Kanto region just before noon on September 1, 1923 (Taisho 12). Coinciding with the time households were preparing lunch and compounded by strong winds from a typhoon, fires spread rapidly through the densely packed wooden housing of central Tokyo City. More than 40% of the former Tokyo City area burned down, and about 90% of the total casualties (estimated at about 105,000) were attributable to fire. A large-scale population migration occurred from the devastated cities of Tokyo and Yokohama. As sushi chefs who had suffered in the disaster scattered to various regions, it became a turning point at which the techniques of nigiri sushi, which had been the food culture of Edo and the Tokyo area, spread throughout the country. --- 212 characters