Kuramae Kokugikan

Kuramae Station (蔵前駅, Kuramae-eki) is a subway station on the Toei Asakusa Line and Toei Oedo Line, both operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation (Toei). It is located in the Kuramae and Kotobuki neighborhoods of Taitō, Tokyo, Japan. Its number on the Asakusa Line is A-17, and that on the Ōedo Line is E-11. There is not an underground connection between the two stations; still, passengers may transfer between them.

On the night of 9/10 March 1945, the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) conducted a devastating firebombing raid on Tokyo, the Japanese capital city. This attack was code-named Operation Meetinghouse by the USAAF and is known as the Great Tokyo Air Raid in Japan. Bombs dropped from 279 Boeing B-29 Superfortress heavy bombers burned out much of eastern Tokyo. More than 90,000 and possibly over 100,000 Japanese people were killed, mostly civilians, and one million were left homeless, making it the most destructive single air attack in human history. The Japanese air and civil defenses proved largely inadequate; 14 American aircraft and 96 airmen were lost. The attack on Tokyo was an intensification of the air raids on Japan which had begun in June 1944. Prior to this operation, the USAAF had focused on a precision bombing campaign against Japanese industrial facilities. These attacks were generally unsuccessful, which contributed to the decision to shift to firebombing. The operation during the early hours of 10 March was the first major firebombing raid against a Japanese city, and the USAAF units employed significantly different tactics from those used in precision raids, including bombing by night with the aircraft flying at low altitudes. The extensive destruction caused by the raid led to these tactics becoming standard for the USAAF's B-29s until the end of the war. There has been a long-running debate over the morality of the 10 March firebombing of Tokyo. The raid is often cited as a key example in criticism of the Allies' strategic bombing campaigns, with many historians and commentators arguing that it was not acceptable for the USAAF to deliberately target civilians, and other historians stating that the USAAF had no choice but to change to area bombing tactics given that the precision bombing campaign had failed. It is generally acknowledged that the tactics used against Tokyo and in similar subsequent raids were militarily successful. The attack is commemorated at two official memorials, several neighborhood memorials, and a privately run museum.

Ryōgoku Kokugikan (両国国技館), also known as Ryōgoku Sumo Hall or Kokugikan Arena, is an indoor sporting arena located in the Yokoami neighborhood (bordering to the Ryōgoku neighborhood) of Sumida, one of the 23 wards of Tokyo in Japan, next to the Edo-Tokyo Museum. It is the third building in Tokyo associated with the name kokugikan (including the Kuramae Kokugikan); the current building was opened in 1985 and has a capacity of 11,098 people.It is mainly used for sumo wrestling tournaments (honbasho) and hosts the Hatsu (new year) honbasho in January, the Natsu (summer) honbasho in May, and the Aki (autumn) honbasho in September. It also houses a museum about sumo.The venue is also used for other indoor events, such as boxing, pro wrestling, and music concerts.

The Michinoku stable (陸奥部屋, Michinoku-beya) is a stable of sumo wrestlers, part of the Tokitsukaze ichimon or group of stables. It was established in 1974 by former maegashira Hoshikabuto, who branched off from Izutsu stable. Former ōzeki Kirishima became the current head coach in December 1997. It absorbed Tatsutagawa stable in November 2000 upon the retirement of the stablemaster there. It lost four top members in April 2011 (Hakuba, Toyozakura, Jūmonji and Kirinowaka), who were forced to retire after being found guilty of match-fixing. The retirement of Ryūhō in 2012 left it with no sekitori until Kiribayama reached the jūryō division in 2019. Kiribayama reached the top makuuchi division in January 2020, the first for the stable since Hakuba in 2008. After the death of Izutsu Oyakata in September 2019, all personnel from Izutsu stable moved to Michinoku on 1 October 2019. This expanded the stable to 15 wrestlers, the most senior of whom was yokozuna Kakuryū, who retired in March 2021. As of January 2022, it had 15 wrestlers.

Ryōgoku Station (両国駅, Ryōgoku-eki) is a railway station in Yokoami, Sumida, Tokyo, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation (Toei).

Kataonami stable (片男波部屋, Kataonami-beya) is a stable of sumo wrestlers, part of the Nishonoseki ichimon or group of stables. It was founded in 1961 by former sekiwake Tamanoumi Daitarō, who branched off from Nishonoseki stable. Former sekiwake Tamanofuji took over the running of the stable upon Tamanoumi's death in 1987. In February 2010 he passed control over to another former sekiwake, Tamakasuga, remaining in the stable under the elder name Tateyama. As of January 2022 it had five active wrestlers.

The Edo-Tokyo Museum (江戸東京博物館, Edo Tōkyō Hakubutsukan) is a historical museum located at 1-4-1 Yokoami, Sumida-Ku, Tokyo in the Ryogoku district. The museum opened in March 1993 to preserve Edo's cultural heritage, and features city models of Edo and Tokyo between 1590 (just prior to the Edo period beginning) and 1964. It was the first museum built dedicated to the history of Tokyo. Some main features of the permanent exhibitions are the life-size replica of the Nihonbashi, which was the bridge leading into Edo; scale models of towns and buildings across the Edo Meiji, and Showa periods; and the Nakamuraza theatre.Designed by Kiyonori Kikutake, the building is 62.2 meters tall and covers 30,000 square meters. The concrete exterior is designed based on a traditional rice storehouse (takayuka-shiki style) and is the same height as the Edo Castle. Kikutake claimed that the building "crystallizes Japanese culture in built form," concerning the structure's traditional references but contemporary execution. There are eight floors, one below ground and seven elevated off the ground by four columns, with an open air plaza at ground level. The first floor has a museum shop, restaurants, and a ticket counter. The primary entrance is on the third floor, reached by a bright red escalator from the plaza. The fifth and sixth floors contain permanent exhibits, with temporary special and feature exhibits on the first and fifth floors. The seventh floor is a library that houses 560,000 texts and cultural items related to Edo and Tokyo.The museum opened thirteen years after the Shitamachi Museum and six years after the Fukagawa Edo Museum, all part of a national trend for building local history museums. The exhibits for all three were primarily designed by Total Media.Formerly owned and operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the Edo-Tokyo Museum is accented by the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum across the city in Koganei Park. The Edo-Tokyo Museum is now operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture.

Tawaramachi Station (田原町駅, Tawaramachi-eki) is a subway station on the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line in Taitō, Tokyo, Japan, operated by the Tokyo subway operator Tokyo Metro. It is numbered "G-18". While situated relatively close to Asakusa on the Tsukuba Express, there are no transfer passageways between the two stations.

Asakusabashi Station (浅草橋駅, Asakusabashi-eki) is a subway station on the Toei Asakusa Line operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation, and a railway station above ground level on the Chūō-Sōbu Line at the same site operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It is located in the Asakusabashi neighborhood of Taitō, Tokyo, Japan. Its number on the Asakusa Line is A-16.

Ryōgoku (両国) is a district in Sumida, Tokyo. It is surrounded by various districts in Sumida, Chūō, and Taitō wards: Yokoami, Midori, Chitose, Higashi Nihonbashi, and Yanagibashi. In 1659, the Ryōgoku Bridge was built, spanning the Sumida River just upstream of its confluence with the Kanda River. Its name, meaning "two provinces," came from its joining Edo (the forerunner of Tokyo in Musashi Province) and Shimōsa Province. The district derived its name from that of the bridge. The Forty-seven rōnin avenged the death of their lord, Asano Naganori, by breaking into the mansion of his enemy, Kira Yoshinaka, in 1703. Part of the mansion has been preserved in a public park in Ryōgoku. Ryōgoku Station in the neighboring Yokoami district was opened in 1904, bringing rail transportation to the area. It is regarded as the heartland of professional sumo. Most training stables or heya are based there. The first Ryōgoku Kokugikan stadium for sumo was completed in 1909. The present one was built in 1985 in the Yokoami district north of Ryōgoku. Three of professional sumo's six annual official tournaments take place there.

The Kanda River (神田川, Kandagawa) stretches 24.6 km from Inokashira Park in Mitaka to the Sumida River under the Ryōgoku Bridge at the boundary of Taitō, Chūō, and Sumida. Its entire length lies within Tokyo, Japan. It drains an area of 105.0 km². The government of Japan classifies it as a Class I river.

The Ryōgoku Bridge (両国橋, Ryōgoku-bashi) is a bridge in Tokyo built in 1659 spanning the Sumida River just upstream of its confluence with the Kanda River. Its name, meaning "two provinces", came from its joining Edo (the forerunner of Tokyo in Musashi Province) and Shimōsa Province. The neighborhood at the east end of the bridge, Ryōgoku, derived its name from that of the bridge. The bridge featured in the 2015 anime "Miss Hokusai".