The Great Tenmei Fire and the Burning of Kyoto

A Wind-Driven Fire That Burned the Capital

The Great Tenmei Fire occurred in 1788 (Tenmei 8).

The Great Tenmei Fire started in a house at Donguri-zushi, east of the Kamo River, near today's Donguri Bridge.

About 37,000 houses burned in the Great Tenmei Fire.

About 65,000 households lost their homes in the Great Tenmei Fire.

Why Did It Spread Across the Whole City?

The fire broke out early in the morning of the 30th day of the first month of 1788 (Tenmei 8) in a house at Donguri-zushi, east of the Kamo River. Donguri-zushi was around today's Donguri Bridge, which spans the river just south of Shijō Ōhashi Bridge. Left alone, the damage should have stayed east of the Kamo River, but a strong east wind drove the fire across the river to Eiyō-ji temple at Teramachi-dōri Takatsuji agaru on the opposite bank, and from there it spread west and north, and then south.

In the old lunar calendar the last day of a month was the 30th or the 29th, so the fire burned for two days and nights—the 30th of the first month and the 1st and 2nd of the second month—and was finally put out on the morning of the 2nd. The burned area reached Kuramaguchi-dōri in the north, Shichijō-dōri in the south, the east side of the Kamo River in the east, and Senbon-dōri in the west. Since the city of the time lay almost entirely within this area, a great city was reduced to scorched ruins. At Nijō Castle, too, the Honmaru Palace and other buildings were lost to this fire.

Where the Great Tenmei Fire Began and the Area It Burned

Comparing Three Great Fires of Kyoto

Kyoto suffered many great fires in the Edo period. Comparing the Great Hōei Fire (1708), the Great Tenmei Fire (1788), and the Dondon-yake (1864), which accompanied the Hamaguri Gate Rebellion, shows that the area of the Tenmei fire was far larger than the others. The Dondon-yake is considered the second-largest fire after the Great Tenmei Fire.

Great fires also changed the shape of the city. After the Great Hōei Fire, townhouses around the Imperial Palace were moved to places such as Nijō-kawahigashi, east of the Kamo River, to make way for the palace's rebuilding, and the area of today's Kyoto Gyoen became a district of court nobles' residences. Street names containing shin ("new") remain in the areas where people were relocated. After the Great Tenmei Fire, a segaki memorial service for the victims was held at Shōjōke-in temple for seven days starting on the 24th day of the third month.

What the Great Fire Left Behind

The fire dealt a heavy blow to Kyoto's economy. Even before it, Kyoto's advanced techniques had spread to the provinces, and goods made there—such as textiles from Kiryū (Gunma Prefecture) and soy sauce from Chōshi (Chiba Prefecture)—were circulating nationwide and putting pressure on Kyoto's industries. The fire temporarily halted production, deepening those difficulties further. The fire was long remembered as the Great Tenmei Fire, or the Great Fire of the Year of the Monkey (申年の大火, Sarudoshi no Taika).

For such a large fire, few historic sites connected with it remain in the city. At Shōjōke-in, at Teramachi Hirokōji agaru in Kamigyō Ward, there is a gorintō (five-tiered stone stupa) for the victims, inscribed "Grave of 150 who died violently in the fire" (横死焼亡百五十人之墓), with a stone monument beside it explaining the memorial. At Entsū-ji, at Higashi-Sanbongi-dōri Marutamachi agaru in Kamigyō Ward, there is also a memorial stone inscribed "For those who died violently in the fire" (為焼亡横死).